PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2018

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 06/18 www.petpla.net 16 Separating single layer PET trays from PET bottles A sharp eye on sorting Tomra Sorting Recycling has introduced a new technology called Tomra Sharp Eye, which makes it possible to separate single-layer PET trays from PET bottles. This enhances the previous capability of Tomra’s Autosort machine to separate multi-layer trays. The step-by-step process, which concludes with the sepa- ration of single-layer PET trays and PET bottles, is seamless and flexible. During the prepa- ration for sorting mixed plastics into different polymers, pack- aging material collected or pre-sorted from municipal solid waste (MSW) first runs through a mechanical treatment process which reduces voluminous materials, mainly soft items such as plastic, film, and non-plastic products. To then separate mixed PET into dif- ferent polymers, Autosort functions as a combined system, detecting mate- rial and colour in combination with grain size. With a very mixed mate- rial input, this process achieves an impressive sorting efficiency of 95% or greater. More than a million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute and within the next five years this number is expected to increase by a further 20%. In response, EU regulations are tightening and organi- sations such as Plastics Recyclers Europe are instigating recycling guidelines for PET trays. This will encourage separate sorting streams to enable PET tray recycling and to develop markets for this packaging product. www.tomra.com/recycling RECYCLING S P E C I A L About Tomra Sorting Recycling Tomra Sorting Recycling designs and manufactures sensor-based sorting technologies for the global recycling and waste management industry. Over 5,500 systems have been installed in 80 countries worldwide. Tomra Sorting Recycling is part of Tomra Sorting Solutions which also develops sensor- based systems for sorting, peeling and process analytics for the food, mining and other industries. Tomra Sorting is owned by Norwegian company Tomra Systems ASA, which is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Founded in 1972, Tomra Sys- tems ASA has a turnover of around US$870,8 million and employs more than 3,500 people. This system is said to be com- mercially significant, because small but critical differences in the chemi- cal properties of PET food trays and PET bottles mean that they have to be separated for equivalent-product recycling. In addition to this, artifi- cial intelligence embedded in Tomra systems enables seamless analysis of sorted products, making the future plants even smarter. Valerio Sama, Tomra Sorting Recycling Product Manager, com- mented: “We expect our new Tomra Sharp Eye technology to be welcomed by collection-and-sorting plants and by PET regeneration centres. Demand for this is likely to grow, because the widening international adoption of on-the-go lifestyles is pushing-up the use of plastic drink bottles and plastic trays used for fruit, vegetables and other foodstuffs.” The key to this is an enhancement of Tomra’s Flying Beam technology, which is already a well-known sensor technology on the market. As the first near-infrared (NIR) scan system with point-scanning (and no need for external lamps), this focuses only on the area of the conveyor belt being scanned. Allowing a wide range of cali- bration possibilities, this can distinguish even the finest molecular differences in materials flowing down the recycling line - and now that Tomra Sharp Eye introduces a bigger lens for higher light intensity, it is possible to detect the most difficult-to-distinguish properties. Simplified Flowchart - Bottle versus Tray sorting