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Metal processing

NIR sorting

State-of-the-art sorting is the goal of many recycling companies today. The topic of NIR is becoming increasingly important. The aim is to further improve the sorting of different materials with the help of near-infrared spectroscopy.

Large municipal solid waste processing plant featuring NIR sorting technology and SPALECK screening machines upstream

Sorting Technology

NIR Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Scalability

Good for high flow rates

Sorting quality

Benefit from the Screening process & Feeding

Your Experts in NIR sorting

Our team would be happy to advise you on NIR sorting and how SPALECK technology can help you get the most out of your NIR system.

BEST SCREENING. BEST INFEED. FOR BEST SORTING QUALITY.

Application examples of near-infrared sorting

Sensor sorting with near-infrared technology is suitable for a wide range of recycling materials. NIR sorting systems are widely used today. This is because they help to increase the accuracy and efficiency of recycling. Common areas of application are almost all types of recycling materials.

These include, among others:

We would be happy to advise you on how you can optimize the recycling rate of your materials with the help of NIR sorting and our SPALECK Screening technology.

To that end, we offer to test your materials at our TestCenter. Of course, you can further process the materials prepared in this way at the testing centers of NIR sorting plant manufacturers. This is part of our daily routine, and we’d be happy to assist you with this.

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Do you have a project idea?

Quick & Easy Way to Optimize Your NIR Sorting Process

Simply send us a photo of your material and relevant key points about the project and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Practical Example: Screening, Shredding, Sorting

How NIR sorting technology Benefits from an Optimal Screening Process and Feeding

In the video, you can see one of Europe’s most modern household waste processing plants. The NIR sorting machines used there benefit directly from their integration with SPALECK screening machines.

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Film processing with NIR sorting machines—SPALECK screening machines first deliver the optimal fractions for accurate material detection

Sensor sorting using near-infrared spectra

What is an NIR Sorting plants?

NIR sorting plants are fully automated sorting plants that sort a wide variety of materials according to their near-infrared spectrum. They belong to the group of sensor-based sorting systems. In recycling, it is a modern and established technology for reliably sorting materials according to their molecular composition. The interaction of the recycling technology used is crucial here. For example, screening machines, Infeed hoppers and Vibratory feeders carry out elementary preparatory work so that NIR sorting can be carried out economically.

Recycling plant with a conveyor belt for NIR sorting of materials.

Near-infrared spectroscopy

How does NIR sorting work?

In NIR sorting, the recycling material is fed to the NIR sorting plant via a conveyor belt. A light source installed above the conveyor belt irradiates the various recyclable materials with infrared light. This physical analysis technique uses infrared rays in the 760 – 2500 nm range. Depending on the material, more or less of the wavelengths are reflected. The NIR sorting device assigns the individual piece of material to a specific material class based precisely on this information about which wavelengths are absorbed or reflected.

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The interplay of technology makes the difference

How can I improve the results of my NIR sorting plants?

The aim and necessity of recycling is to process large volume flows in the best possible way. This is necessary so that recycling can be carried out economically. Thanks to the technical design and the screening machines and Vibratory feeders specially designed for your recycling process, your NIR sorting devices are fed very consistently. This enables very high throughputs. At the same time, it allows the materials to be separated so that the NIR technology can optimally detect them. You thus obtain a monolayer in the feed width matched to the NIR device. This enables perfect feeding and very good separation results.

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PET, HDPE, PP, LDPE, PA

High-performance near-infrared sorting

Recycling has made great progress in recent years. The further development of the state of the art has played a major role in this.

For a more sustainable future and to meet the increasing legal requirements for recycling, NIR systems are becoming ever more powerful in this context.

Tension-shaft screen (Flip-Flow screen) located upstream of a sorting machine in a municipal solid waste recycling plant. The SPALECK tensioned-shaft screen delivers precisely screened material. Screening out the fine fraction helps ensure that the subsequent sensor sorting (Tomra Machine) can function optimally.

Advantages

  • Fast and accurate sorting of recycled materials
  • Cost-efficient, provided the material is optimally fed onto the NIR sorting device
  • Adaptable to changing material compositions
  • Good scalability for large volume flows
  • Can be combined with other recycling technologies such as laser technology, electromagnetic sensors, X-ray technology, and X-ray sorting
  • Also suitable for small particle detection
  • High purity levels of the sorted fractions

Disadvantages

  • Relatively high initial investment
  • Efficiency requires high loading density and full utilization of the machine width (SPALECK offers tried-and-tested concepts for optimum loading of the NIR sorting devices)
  • Risk of sticking and Sticking depending on the material
  • More demanding maintenance and calibration
Test Center for Screening Machines and Recycling Technology at SPALECK, the manufacturer

NIR sorting - Why the task of the material is crucial

Optimize Your NIR Sorting Process at the SPALECK TestCenter

Modern NIR sorting devices can be real high performers and game changers in terms of sorting quality. In practice, it has been shown that a holistic view of the Recycling process is crucial for this. Specifically, it is fundamentally important to design the material feed, the screening process and the feed to the NIR sorting devices in the best possible way. SPALECK is the right partner for this!


With the help of our SPALECK TestCenter, our close collaboration with leading manufacturers of NIR equipment, and the experience we’ve gained from numerous international customer projects, we can work with you to implement high-performance recycling processes using state-of-the-art Conveying & Separation Technology.

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