35 EVENT PREVIEW PETplanet Insider Vol. 25 able system with a small footprint that generates extensive statistics and ensures reliable detection. A powerful Gigabit Ethernet camera and LED lighting from above and below detect the crate shape, colour, handle grip breaks, incorrect crate orientation, and deformed crates. Inside the containers, foreign objects, misaligned, broken, overturned, and especially foreign bottles are detected by both the camera and ultrasound sensors for height control. “With this new control system, the number of rejected crates is drastically reduced, and foreign bottles or objects can now be sorted out manually with ease.” Tethered caps problem For PET bottles, Romina Mineralbrunnen have to inspect returned empties very carefully. Their own Petcycle bottles are crushed and shredded. “This means, however, that no glass bottle can be included, as it would damage the press,” explains Gugel. Additionally, other PET bottles cannot go through the press. “We send those to a counting centre in Stuttgart, where they are counted, and we are reimbursed for the deposit.” This process refers to the German bottle deposit scheme (DRS), which is the largest in the world. However, the main problem in the PET sector has been the new tethered cap, where the screw cap must remain attached to the bottle. “Sometimes the cap is closed, sometimes it sticks out at an angle, and sometimes it hangs down the neck. Then there are the different Petcycle bottles, which can appear octagonal, decagonal, or almost round from above, which the previous cameras could no longer recognise. As a result, we had enormous amounts of rejected crates,” Gugel says. P E R F O R M A N C E D E TA I L S CIRCULAR SOLUTIONS OF COLOURS AND ADDITIVES FOR RECYCLED POLYMERS PRS ASIA - BOOTH K30 With the “Teta-Line LG DL” system, all bottles – whether glass or PET – are reliably detected, even with tethered closures.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTY0MjI=