Material Classification for Packaging Recycling Streams
3 patents in this list
Updated:
Material recovery facilities process over 100,000 tons of packaging waste daily, yet accurate classification remains a significant challenge. Current optical sorting systems achieve only 80-85% accuracy when dealing with multi-layer materials, dark plastics, and contaminated items. This leads to approximately 15-20% of potentially recyclable materials being diverted to landfills due to classification errors.
The fundamental challenge lies in developing sorting systems that can rapidly and accurately identify material composition while handling the physical variability of post-consumer waste streams.
This page brings together solutions from recent research—including near-infrared spectroscopy imaging systems, vibration-based sorting mechanisms, and automated single-line processing systems with multi-stage separation. These and other approaches focus on improving classification accuracy while maintaining the high throughput needed for commercial recycling operations.
1. Vibrating Sorting Machine with Multi-Spoked Speed-Regulating Conveyor Chain and Integrated Electromagnetic Vibrator
CHANGSHU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Changshu Institute of Technology, 2023
A vibrating variable-speed sorting machine for dispersed materials in flexible packaging like salt, spices, and medicines. The machine has a vibrating feeder with a multi-spoked speed-regulating conveyor chain. The chain has an electromagnetic vibrator on one side and a display screen with an indicator light on the other side. This allows separating larger materials by vibration and speed regulation while reducing blockage and wear compared to traditional vibration sorting. The display and indicator light provide visual feedback. The machine also has sensors, a cleaning mechanism, and a control box.
2. Automatic Sorting and Single-Line Output System with Horizontal and Longitudinal Separators and Centering Conveyor for Packaging Materials
KUNMING KSEC LOGISTICS INFORMATION INDUSTRY CO LTD, 2020
Automatic sorting and single-line output system for packaging materials like boxes, bags, and sacks. The system sorts and outputs staggered, overlapped, and side-by-side batches of materials in a single line for efficient automated packaging. It uses a horizontal separator, longitudinal separator, and centering conveyor. The horizontal separator has a central narrow belt with side rollers and vertical belts to separate parallel materials. The longitudinal separator is downstream with multiple narrow belts at different speeds to further separate. The centering conveyor below aligns the materials. A detector at the end of horizontal separator sorts by width.
3. Automotive Plastic Sorting System with Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Imaging for Material Identification
DAIMLER CHRYSLER AG, 2001
Sorting system for recycling plastics from automotive scrap that can automatically separate and sort shredded plastic parts from cars. The system uses near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy imaging to identify the plastics based on their unique absorption spectra. It involves feeding the shredded plastic parts onto a conveyor, scanning them with NIR sensors, and sorting them into separate containers based on their plastic type. The system can handle dark and blended plastics, and can sort plastics from cars where visual sorting is difficult. The NIR imaging allows reliable and automated sorting of recycled automotive plastics.
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