Increasing circularity by boosting sorting performance

In recent years, sorting centers have seen a gradual transformation of their material input streams. They now are faced with larger incoming volumes containing more complex materials that are therefore more difficult to sort. With more technical and fragmented materials, guaranteeing the quality and capture of recoverable products is becoming a real challenge. Innovation therefore takes center stage in the strategies of industrial recycling companies.

For more than 20 years, the teams at Pellenc ST have been developing advanced sorting solutions to recover waste and support operators in their quest for performance. With current infrared and visible spectrometry solutions, optical sorters already are capable of advanced sorting operations, such as the separation of PET trays/bottles or PET single-use trays/multiuse trays. On the other hand, for certain complex separation requests, existing equipment still does not offer a solution. This is where artificial intelligence comes in.

At Pellenc ST, it is used wisely, in addition to existing solutions, to boost performance and help operators manage their industrial equipment and control their quality. By combining NIR/VIS and DEEP LEARNING technologies, optical sorters gain analysis speed and can then provide a solution for the most complex sorting tasks. In concrete terms, the neural network is trained with millions of images to be able to identify the unique characteristics of objects, such as their shape, size or other visual differences.

Last year, Pellenc ST launched its first solutions equipped with artificial intelligence for the cleaning of PE streams and the complex separation of paper/cardboard. By relying on its CNS BRAINTM technology, Pellenc ST is taking on a new challenge in the field of PET sorting.

“We have developed a new artificial intelligence model capable of recognizing transparent PET bottles covered with a sleeve or a large label, which are difficult to recognize using NIR/VIS alone. Our model already detects more than 85% of sleeved bottles, and we expect to exceed the 90% mark in the near future,” says Kevin Alazet, artificial intelligence manager for Pellenc ST.

This solution also helps to reduce losses, which have fallen from 7% to less than 2%.

In addition, CNS BRAINTM is one of the artificial intelligence options Pellenc ST offers that does not require additional equipment and nor generates additional energy consumption or maintenance needs. In this way, artificial intelligence can provide a real boost to competitiveness while remaining frugal when it comes to its carbon footprint.

For even more difficult applications, Pellenc ST equips its machines with an additional camera and offers the AISORTTM option. This innovation makes it possible to address new use cases by offering the industry new separation possibilities. The best example is that of food/nonfood separation.

Food and nonfood packaging often are made from the same or similar materials. This means conventional sorting systems have difficulty distinguishing between and sorting this packaging. Thanks to the artificial intelligence module and multisensor fusion, optical sorters Pellenc ST supplies address this issue and obtain high-quality recycled products through extremely accurate sorting.

Pellenc ST also offers quality control solutions equipped with artificial intelligence. Installed at the end of the sorting line, AISEETM gantries monitor the quality level of the stream, as well as the overall efficiency of the sorting center. By providing real-time information on the composition of the stream, AISEETM becomes a real decision-making tool. Supplemented by the support of experts well-versed in the issues of the waste industry, this data becomes intelligent and is a valuable source of knowledge.

Once collected and analyzed, it is translated into personalized dashboards and reports, which are essential for operators to guarantee the required purity levels, maintain availability rates and speed up commissioning phases.

“In 2024, we installed both the AISORT and CNS BRAIN technologies into our test center, located in Pineville, NC. Due to these incredible upgrades, it not only allows us to demonstrate the AI sorting tasks of today but also means that we have a significantly reduced time to market when talking about the AI sorting tasks of tomorrow. We can now locally create the database using material from the U.S. market and work alongside our North American customers and partners in real time to ensure that the sorting is meeting all of their performance needs.” - Daniel Poorman Tests Manager, Pellenc ST Americas

Finally, all the equipment supplied by Pellenc ST is ISO 27001 certified, guaranteeing the robustness, security and sovereignty of data.

With these new solutions, Pellenc ST is beefing up its offering and expanding its technological portfolio to pursue its mission to support the sectors to recover more materials and make the economy a little more circular and regenerative every day.

We welcome the opportunity for our customers and partners to visit our test center and experience our optical sorters in person. Please reach out to pellencstamerica@pellencst.com to organize an equipment demo.