Hyperspectral Imaging Applied to Plastic Recycling

The efficient large-scale recycling of plastic waste is of increasing interest from an ecological and economic point of view, but it represents a goal that has yet to be achieved by the recycling industry. The possibility offered by hyperspectral imaging techniques in order to identify different plastic particles to be recycled, with particular reference to polyolefins (polyethylene: PE and polypropylene: PP) from complex wastes, has been investigated. Representative samples of polyolefins waste resulting from automotive shredder residue have been collected and utilized for the laboratory set-up and testing by hyperspectral imaging. The spectral signature of the two plastic typologies have been detected and investigated in the visible-near infrared field (VIS-NIR: 400-1000 nm). The main parameters, hyperspectral imaging based, allowing to perform the recognition of the PE and PP have been defined. Analytical strategies have been specifically set up in to define sorting and/or control logics to be applied in “on-line” control architectures to directly act at industrial plant level