Canon Launches Innovative Plastic Sorting Equipment with Advanced Material Identification Technology

Canon’s unique approach ensures sufficient measurement time for each piece of plastic according to its color, achieving high speed and accuracy in sorting operations.

Canon Inc. announced the launch of its new plastic sorting equipment featuring innovative material identification technology. The "TR Series," including the "TR-S1510," uses Raman spectroscopy technology combined with a tracking mechanism to accurately detect material types of plastic fragments, even when black plastic pieces are mixed with other colors. This breakthrough addresses the long-standing challenge of identifying black plastics in recycling processes.

Currently, only about 20% of plastic waste from daily life is recycled into new products, while the rest is used as fuel or incinerated. Recycled plastics need to maintain a high degree of purity, making precise identification crucial for materials like ABS and polypropylene (PP). However, conventional near-infrared spectroscopy struggles with black plastics, commonly found in home electronics and automobile upholstery, as they do not transmit or reflect visible light.

Canon's new product employs a proprietary tracking Raman spectroscopic method, enabling rapid and precise sorting of all plastic pieces regardless of color. Raman spectroscopy uses laser light to illuminate plastic pieces and obtain molecular information, making it applicable to black plastics. Canon’s unique approach ensures sufficient measurement time for each piece of plastic according to its color, achieving high speed and accuracy in sorting operations. This advancement improves the productivity of recycling plants and maximizes material recycling, contributing to a circular economy.

The equipment maintains a conveyor speed of 1.5 meters per second and can sort up to 1 ton of plastic per hour. It can also be customized based on customer throughput and installation space requirements by adjusting the module that tracks and measures the plastic pieces or by combining different conveyor belts.

Canon's entry into the recycling system market with this high-precision, high-speed sorting technology marks a significant step towards enhancing plastic recycling and supporting sustainable practices.