Guangdong Databeyond Technology Co., Ltd. recently announced the launch of its FASTSORT-BARRIER-FLUO optical sorter, an industry-first system that integrates dual-phase fusion technology with both barrier spectrum sensors and fluorescence sensors. The platform delivers sorting accuracy above 98 for multiple types of barrier bottles, providing a breakthrough solution for recycled PET flakes washing lines facing challenges from yellowing PET flakes exceeding quality standards.
PET flakes washing lines have long struggled with elevated levels of yellowing flakes, primarily due to variability in raw material quality, where barrier bottles are a major contributing factor. Conventional optical sorters for barrier bottles typically rely on fluorescence sensors, but most barrier bottles do not exhibit a distinct fluorescent response, limiting their effectiveness in preventing yellowing contamination. The issue is especially acute in washing lines processing label-free plastic bales, where barrier bottles without labels are visually indistinguishable from high-quality clear PET bottles, making them difficult to detect by either AI-based optical sorters or manual pickers. As a result, facilities often must depend on upstream baling stations to control the volume of barrier bottles in the recycling stream.
The FASTSORT-BARRIER-FLUO optical sorter delivers a step-change in performance by combining Databeyonds proprietary barrier spectrum sensor BARRIER with fluorescence sensor FLUO, enabling simultaneous detection of delabeled barrier bottles, fluorescent bottles, weak-fluorescence bottles, aged bottles, and weak-aging bottles. With delabeled barrier bottle sorting accuracy exceeding 98, the system provides PET flakes washing lines with a root-cause solution to the long-standing challenge of excessive yellowing flakes.