Dive Brief:

• Tomra Sorting has developed an Autosort flake sorter that combines a visible range spectrometer camera to detect color and non-transparent contaminants, a near infrared spectrometer to detect different polymer types, and a metal sensor to detect ferrous and non-ferrous particles. 
• Such sensors have made it easier to sort three kinds of plastics: food-grade recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) flakes, food and non-food PE (polyethylene), and plastics from other materials in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
• Due to advancements in technology, these previously hard-to-treat plastics can now be used to produce recycled products or fuel waste-to-energy facilities.

Dive Insight:

Sensor technology has made it possible to achieve purity levels as high as 99.9% for separated plastics, according to Waste Management World.  And, with companies like Nestle and Coca-Cola introducing beverages in recycled PET containers, there's a market for such technology.

Next up, Axion Consulting is partnering with Tomra and several other global companies to improve the recyclability of flexible packaging, Environmental Leader reported.