RECYCLING
g
company uses a camera developed in- house. NIR can be used to detect flame retardants and PET trays; it can differentiate LDPE and HDPE; detect various ‘bottle/ label combinations’ or distinguish between PET and PETG (bottles and flakes). A ‘plastics library’ can be adapted to specific applications and types of plastic. Sesotec hopes to integrate more AI in the
future, but needs more computing power to incorporate this at a reasonable price, which Eder hopes integrated photonics could help support. AI-assisted detection and sorting processes would shorten the time between detection and the sorting of the material, increasing output. ‘I know everyone is talking about it right now, but AI will bring a huge benefit,’ Eder said. Te company is offering organisations
with capabilities that could meet their needs the opportunity to test their products in an industrial environment, either at the firm’s test centre or at a customer site. “You will get detailed feedback about our findings, what needs to be improved and what was good,” Eder said. Companies can also cooperate in research projects, he added.
Improving recycled plastic purity In addition to detection of black plastic, another challenge facing plastics recycling
Drinks makers are moving towards closed loop recycling
is obtaining a high enough purity that recycled content can be made into high- quality products that meet performance and functionality requirements. Te mix of different types of polymers
used today makes this difficult, as they contain different chemical compositions as well as different additives such as dyes and flame inhibitors that give a plastic product its specific properties. Sorting these different plastics and
removing impurities is important because otherwise products made using recycled plastics might not perform at the level desired. A Danish research/industry project,
called New Hyperspectral Camera technology for material identification (NewHC), is developing a hyperspectral camera that will make it much easier to recycle plastic materials. Te technology’s spectral resolution and range will be higher than existing products on the market to reveal unwanted fire retardants and pigments in the plastic that may be banned or harmful, so that they can be removed before recycling.
14 IMAGING AND MACHINE VISION EUROPE AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2023
“It’s important that we separate plastics
into as pure fractions as possible if we are to increase the rate of recycling. At least 95% purity in the plastic fractions is currently required; preferably higher. For this reason, we’re aiming to automate fast and efficient plastic recognition with this technology. By doing this, we hope we can push the boundaries for future recycling of plastic waste and thereby reduce the need to make new plastics,” said Bjarke Jørgensen, Head of Research & Development at Newtec Engineering . Aarhus University (AU), University of
Southern Denmark (SDU) and Newtec Engineering are aiming to develop the hyperspectral camera with a spectral range from around 400nm to 1,900nm and a desired resolution of 2nm. “It’s an extremely ambitious goal for this
technology, and it places strict demands on the optical components in the camera technology. Besides a uniquely high resolution, we’re also aiming to optimise the camera optics for light spectra that are crucial for analysing plastics,” said Associate Professor Mogens Hinge, from the Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering at Aarhus University. Once the technology has been developed, it will be installed in a specially constructed
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