Source One Plastics GmbH is expanding its service portfolio to include the optical sorting of rigid plastics for mechanical recycling. The joint venture between 23 Oaks Investments and LyondellBasell brought two sorting machines from Meyer Deutschland GmbH last year, with this move in mind. The flake sorters can annually sort 15,000 tons of processed post-consumer waste by colour and polymer type.
Source One Plastics
Source One Plastics branches out into optical sorting solutions for rigid plastics
Following one year of regular operation of the dry mechanical sorting and recycling plant, the company is opening a flake sorting area for contract sorting at its Eicklingen site.
“More and more companies aim to use recyclates in their plastics production,” said Kai Hoyer, Managing Director of Source One Plastics. “We support this sustainable goal and are creating capacities to make recycled mono-fractions available.”
In this flake sorter area, Source One Plastics processes heterogeneous post-consumer plastics utilising camera technology. Before sorting rigid plastics, there is a shredding and cutting process. Ferrous metals are removed from the polymer particles, which are then fed to the flake sorters of the ‘CG Max’ and ‘CI8’ models. Near-infrared signals and spectral or In- Ga-As cameras help with optical differentiation by colour and polymer composition. They also determine the size, colour, shape, and density of the flakes, with the target material then ejected using air pressure. Post-consumer plastics can now be separated by type in multiple passes, while integrated artificial intelligence (AI) ensures continuous optimisation of the sorting results.
