OCTOBER 24--QinetiQ (Farnsborough, UK;www.qinetiq.com) has developed a machine that can automatically identify and sort recyclable domestic waste into various packaging groups. By using defense-based technologies, including advanced sensors originally designed for fast jets and tanks, the amount of waste sent to landfill is reduced, helping the UK to become more environmentally friendly. Designed to help local authorities and waste-management companies recover materials cost-effectively from curbside collections, QinetiQ's high-throughput demonstrator helps gain the most value and purity from various plastic, metallic, and composite packaging collections.
"To reclaim many of the more valuable materials from curbside collections, most recyclable waste is currently hand-sorted, which is a slow, time-consuming, costly, and sometimes a potentially dangerous activity," explained QinetiQ's Stephen Takel. "By automating this process, a material-reclamation operation can run 24/7, delivering a calculated capacity of more than 36,000 tons per year, resulting in a highly reliable, cost-effective, multimaterial-sorting solution that should greatly assist local authorities in meeting their recycling targets."
QinetiQ's technologists have utilized a broadband color camera, a hyperspectral imager, a metal-detecting array, and data-fusion and classification software to identify and classify the waste items. These are then individually tracked along the conveyer until they reach the appropriate collection bin, where a series of compressed-air ejectors remove them into containers. The system is currently programmed to identify a variety of materials including Tetrapak, ferrous and nonferrous metals, and a range of plastics. The patented sensors could also be trained to identify a range of other materials including glass.
QinetiQ is now in consultation with a number of local authorities looking to adopt this technology, plus it is exploring ways the technology could be applied in other industries with similar problems.
