Black plastics pose an identification problem for sorting machines at recycling facilities, as the sensors can't see them. Canon has developed a system that users lasers and tracking tech to identify and sort plastic trash on the conveyor belt, no matter its color.
In common with other municipalities around the world, my local authority essentially instructs keen recyclers not to put out black plastic waste for curbside collection, but just to throw it in with the general household waste for incineration.
This is because the sorting machines at the processing center simply can't see black plastic as it doesn't transmit or reflect visible light, so it's missed by the sensors and slips through the cracks. Though Canon is best known for its imaging technologies and printers, the company is now entering the recycling business with the launch of the TR Series sorting machines.
First off the production line is the TR-S1510, which employs proprietary Raman spectroscopy to scan plastic trash pieces with lasers as they move along a conveyor at speed. But this is not enough to ensure efficient processing on its own, due to the limited reflectivity of black plastics. So Canon has added its own "measurement and control equipment" including a digital scanner to identify the type of plastic with high accuracy regardless of color.
"With this new system, the materials of black plastic pieces which were challenging to identify using the conventional near-infrared method can now be identified in a practical manner even when mixed with other colors, thereby helping to improve the productivity of recycling plants and, as the result, maximizing material recycling," said the company in a press statement.
The end result will hopefully mean that more plastics are recycled/reprocessed and less sent off for incineration. The 3,000 x 4,300 x 2,200-mm (118 x 169 x 86.6-in) machine can identify, sort and separate fragments at a rate of 166 pieces per second at sizes of 15 to 50 mm, or 1 ton per hour when the conveyor is running at 1.5 m (5-ft) per second.
Canon is now accepting orders for the TR-S1510 machine in Japan, but availability elsewhere is an unknown at this time.
Source: Canon