Extrusion International 3-2020

43 Extrusion International 3/2020 builders and manufacturers of equip- ment used at MRFs and metal recy- cling yards. Before National Sword, recycled product with up to 10 per- cent impurities was acceptable. Af- ter, impurity content of no more than 0.05 percent was mandated, and other countries eventually fol- lowed China’s lead. “The industry has grown from material recovery to recycled product refining,” says Eric Thurston, Sales Manager Metals for TOMRA Sorting Recycling. “Compa- nies want the sorting circuit to do the majority of the work, so they can re- direct manual sorters to better utilize the talents.” Equipment automation is helping to deliver better separation of mixed materials at the front end of the re- cycling circuit. “The better the sepa- ration at the front end, the more ef- ficient the back-end sorting will be, and the fewer manual sorters will be required,” comments Thurston. On the circuit’s back end, where ma- terial is sorted into final products, significant improvements in equip- ment technologies are helping to reduce the number of manual sort- ers required for final product quality. Sensor improvements now enable optical sorters to pick out fine molec- ular differences in PET and paper ma- terials to get a cleaner product sort. “By taking a systems-thinking ap- proach to the entire circuit and up- grading both the front and back ends,” says Nick Doyle, Recycling Area Sales Manager, West North America for TOMRA Sorting Recy- cling, “we are helping MRF operators significantly decrease their manual sorter count, in some cases by 50 per- ene and polypropylene as well, at a time when the market typically sees the start of peak season for rPET and recycled polyolefins. A vast majority of U.S. states with bill deposit programs have suspended enforcement, limiting the returns of aluminum cans as well as glass and plastic bottles. Still other states have stopped drop-off programs at recy- cling facilities and reduced facility operating hour reductions to combat the virus. Automation and technology advances It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. In times of social and business disruptions, people find ways to overcome the challenge. We are seeing this play out with the coronavirus pandemic. Displaced students are learning virtually, quar- antined citizens are finding virtual ways to stay connected and “nones- sential” workers are keeping busi- ness running through work-at-home initiatives. The waste and recycling industries face the compounded issue of mate- rial and labor shortage trends for the foreseeable future. Recycling opera- tions must make the most with the material they receive, with fewer workers. “Advancements have been made in sorting circuit automation at both front and back ends, which have helped recycling operations decrease the number of manual sort- ers while increasing material purity,” mentions Fabrizio Radice, Head of Global Sales and Marketing TOMRA Sorting Recycling. China National Sword in 2017 start- ed the innovation engine for plant cent or more. This is not only benefi- cial in current times with the coro- navirus pandemic, it better utilizes worker talents and saves operators substantial sums of money annually.” Digital trends Today, more of the recycling circuit’s components can be networked to- gether to further advance efficien- cies. Sorting machines can capture operating data, such as when the cir- cuit is running, duration, output and service alerts, that can be accessed remotely via an Internet connection. This allows managers to employ fact- based decision making about the equipment and circuit, improve oper- ating efficiency and increase sorting accuracy. More available data combined with significantly improved computing capabilities has expanded the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in sorting equipment to help recycling opera- tions solve much more complex sort- ing problems than in the past. Robot- ic sorters and sensor-based sorting equipment are now integrated with advanced machine learning capa- bilities to recognize patterns in the waste stream and make a smarter sort. Doyle suggests that operators consider pairing advanced optical re- ducing sorters with robots using AI to help boost quality, while the need of manual sorters. As a final consideration as to wheth- er a circuit should be upgraded to im- prove sorting accuracy, Doyle offers, “If it hasn’t been upgraded within the last three years, it may not be as efficient as possible, and a company might be using more manual sort- ers than necessary. Investing in the circuit now, when volume and labor availability are down, can help to re- duce the impact on the business and pay dividends when the business re- bounds to pre-pandemic levels.” TOMRA Sorting GmbH Otto-Hahn-Str. 6, 56218 Mülheim-Kärlich, Germany www.tomra.com/recycling