This story appeared in the second edition of Plastics Recycling magazine in October 2016.
UniSort BlackEye Steinert's new optical sorter uses a camera system to analyze light reflected off plastic flakes to identify plastics, including PE and PP, as well as other materials, such as wood, glass and paper. A compressed air system separates the materials, with a throughput of about 1,000 pounds of plastic flakes per hour.
What's new? The technology. Launched in May at the IFAT trade fair in Munich, the system makes it possible to separate black PE and PP.
Benefits Production of higher-quality material and the recyclability of black plastics and previously difficult-to-process materials. The sensor makes separation into these pure streams possible. The system also can handle products such as thin-walled flower pots that recycling companies would not otherwise be able to process profitably.
Steinert US Inc., 800-595-4014, Walton, Kentucky, www.steinertglobal.com/us/en
