Buhler Sortex obvious choice for plastics recyclers

Color Plastics Sorters from Buhler are an obvious choice for the plastics recycling industry and are rapidly becoming an industry standard.

As a pioneer in plastics sorting, Buhler Sortex are particularly well placed to deal with PVC recycling issues and their SORTEX Z+ range of optical color sorters are especially well designed and equipped for the PVC recycling industry. The ability of the SORTEX Z+ to color and shape sort a range of plastics materials including PVC, PET, HDPE, LDPE, PVB and PP, and its ability to remove foreign material such as rubber, metal, paper, glass, wood and many other contaminants has led to a very positive reception throughout the plastics industry.

The SORTEX Z+ is capable of sorting between one to twelve tons per hour on typical input contamination figures of less than 1% - 30% and it will successfully remove colored granules, extruded black seal, and pretty well any other contaminate. The outcome is a much improved and higher quality end product, which is, of course, of a much higher resale value to the producer. Additionally, labor savings are more than possible: the SORTEX Z+ is a fully automated machine that requires little or no maintenance.

Principles of color sorting
Color sorters use camera-based systems to view products at varying wavelengths (colors). The appearance of a defective product initialises a reject system, usually an ejector that uses a short blast of compressed air to blow the offending item out of the product stream. Color sorters have to operate very quickly, as products are fed into them at rates of up to 36 tonnes per hour.

A typical monochromatic sorter such as the SORTEX Z+ uses, as the name implies, one waveband of light. The intensity of the light reflected off the product being sorted is measured allowing products that appear brighter or darker than normal to be identified and rejected. Such a sorter should remove defects and foreign material, along with most contaminants.

More sophisticated bi-chromatic version of the SORTEX Z+ can compare the intensity of light reflected in two of the primary wavebands (red/green or red/blue), allowing the camera to discriminate by color as well as by intensity.

A Revolution in Plastics Sorting
With European and UK Government support and with an increasing public awareness and demand for efficient, environmentally friendly recycling, PVC and other plastics materials recycling is a growth industry with a bright future. But, as with any industry, efficiency, cost savings, better value and an improved product are the benchmarks for success and the principle concern for operators.

There is probably no aspect of the recycling process more cost sensitive and which can have a greater impact on the bottom line, than that of removing contaminates from the raw product in the recycling stream. Contaminates in the stream come in all shapes and colors and various and many forms - from the rubber extrusions used on window frames (once easily removed by hand, not so easy now that industry has moved to co-extrusion) to pieces of metal, colored granules and even flakes of wood aluminium and PET plastics.

Traditionally, the problem has been dealt with by various mechanical sorting options but frankly such solutions are, by modern high tech standards, about as effective as comparing a bicycle to a Formula One racing car.

Buhler Sortex Color Sorters lead the way in offering the recycling industry an efficient, cost effective and elegant solution, that is absolutely state of the art, highly efficient and surprisingly simple to operate and maintain.

Sortex developed techniques for sorting polythene for ICI 50 plus years ago and its overall efforts have led to a positive reception throughout the global plastics industry.

No wonder, the SORTEX Z+, ideally situated in the product stream between the grinding stage and extrusion, is capable of sorting between one to twelve tons per hour on typical input contamination figures of less than 1% - 30% and it will successfully remove colored granules, extruded black seal, and pretty well any other contaminate.

The sorters consistent sorting performance delivers the benefit of fewer filter changes for downstream extrusion. The SORTEX Z+ is incredibly easy to operate, even by non-skilled personnel.

Many recycling companies who are now using the SORTEX Z+, have been able to process a much lower quality raw product than they were able to previously and yet they are able to produce a higher quality, higher value, consistent end product. Put all these things together and you begin to see why the SORTEX Z+ is becoming the sorter of choice in the plastics industry, just as it has done in other industries particularly in foodstuffs where high quality and accuracy are essential, not only for profit margins but for environmental and public health issues.

With tough government legislation, considerable cost advantages and growing consumer support for green issues, there are some highly compelling reasons for choosing Sortex sorters as part of your production process and you'll be pleasantly surprised at how the initial investment will speedily repay itself in better returns from a higher quality product.

One customer reckoned that with the four chute version producing several thousand pounds (sterling) worth of raw PVC material in just 60 minutes, it should be possible to recoup his investment before his payment had cleared the bank!

In its 'Progress Report' for 2007, Vinyl 2010 (the organization coordinating the European PVC industry’s commitment to sustainable development) confirmed that 83,000 tons of PVC was recycled through its various projects in 2006. Of this, 16,800 tons was recycled in the UK alone - and that's more than double the previous year's figures for the second year running.

This in itself is a unique response to contamination in the recycling process for the plastics industry.

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