WEEE | INNOVATION
The
CloseWEEE project has used the CreaSolv process to extract PS, ABS and PC/ ABS from mixed WEEE plastics
tions that needs to be overcome is colour sorting. The difficulty of identifying polymers in a black mixed waste stream is one that affects WEEE recyclers because of the large amount of black parts in electronic devices. The NIR Sort project is working to find solutions using near infra-red sorting technology (see following article). Unisensor in Germany has also been tackling the colour issue, but instead using laser spectros- copy. Its Powersort system uses laser light to elicit the light spectrum that is specific to each material, which is analysed and used for sorting the waste. Unisensor has developed a new model of the system, Powersort 360, which it said is powerful and capable of sorting black plastics. The system can process shredder fractions with grain sizes of 15 to 75mm. It operates at throughputs of up to 10 tph. The company said: “Black and dark plastics place the highest demands on plastic separation. They are commonly found in electronic waste and in the automotive industry and they quickly push conventional technologies to their limits. For profitable recycling a separation into the different plastic types is crucial.”
Unisensor said the new system can detect plastics
in any stream. “This ensures that mixed material streams can be split into fractions of ABS, PS, PC-ABS, PP, etc. or be cleaned of unwanted plastics such as PVC. Contaminants such as wood, rubber, glass, rocks and metal can also be separated.”
Sesotec in Germany has developed WEEE-Sort, a variant of its NIR sorting systems that is designed for use in WEEE plastics and metals recycling plants. WEEE-Sort N is Sesotec’s WEEE plastics sorting system, in which the belt runs at up to 3m/ sec. Air-blast valves, specifically developed for this application, keep the loss of good material to a minimum. Sesotec said: “WEEE-Sort systems are a cost effective solution for the reclaiming of high-quality plastic and PCB fractions. The result- ing pure plastics can be profitably returned to the production cycle, and valuable metals can subse- quently be reclaimed from the separated printed circuit boards.”
Sesotec also supplies WEEE-Sort technology to
recyclers of WEEE metals, which extract significant quantities of polymers that are sold into the plastics recycling market. The company described its work with Hennemann Umweltservice Elektronik, a German reprocessor of WEEE metals: “For this application Sesotec uses inverse sorting, which allows the reliable separation of about 90% of the plastic parts contained in the electronic waste fraction. Inverse sorting means that objects that do not provide a metal signal are sorted out. This application furthermore has the advantage of reduced compressed-air consumption. Since most of the objects that must be sorted out are of light weight, an air pressure of 3-4 bar is sufficient. With this type of sorting, rolling or heavy metal parts (e.g. screws and bolts) that have a small contact surface also are correctly sorted into the metal fraction.”
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.ivv.fraunhofer.de �
www.philips.com �
www.akg.nl (Veolia Polymers) �
www.electrolux.com �
www.closeweee.eu
�
www.mgg-recycling.com
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www.unisensor.de �
www.sesotec.com
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
Left: Sesotec’s WEEE Sort NIR sorting sytem
March/April 2018 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 31
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