Recyclable material finds new ally

Defense-contractor QinetiQ (Farnsborough, UK;www.qinetiq.com) has developed a hyperspectral-imaging-based machine that can automatically identify and sort recyclable domestic waste. Designed to help local authorities and waste-management companies recover materials cost-effectively from curbside collections, the high-throughput demonstrator helps optimize the value and purity obtainable from recycling.

"To reclaim many of the more valuable materials from curbside collections, most recyclable waste is currently hand-sorted, which is a time-consuming, costly, and potentially dangerous," says 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."

QinetiQ's is using 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 materials including Tetrapak, ferrous and nonferrous metals, and a range of plastics. The sensors could also be trained to identify other materials including glass. QinetiQ is consulting with local authorities to adopt this technology, plus exploring ways the technology could be applied in other industries with similar problems.