Maximum sorting performance? Artificial intelligence makes it possible

Schönberg, May 2024; At this year’s IFAT, Sesotec is setting pioneering standards in the recycling industry with its latest AI technologies, NIR-Ai and OBJECT-Ai. Where high-tech sensors reach their limits, artificial intelligence approaches enable the reliable detection and differentiation of many materials. Under the title “SUSTAiN Technologies - Driving the AiVOLUTION”, the company will be presenting the pioneering innovations that achieve unprecedented sorting performance at stand B5 415/514.

“With the developments of NIR-Ai and OBJECT-Ai, we are significantly pushing the boundaries of material detection. These technologies are not only a leap forward in sorting efficiency, but also a milestone in our mission to promote sustainable recycling solutions,” explains Andreas Hanus, Development Engineer and Product Owner Plastics Recycling at Sesotec.

NIR-Ai - sorting optically similar plastic products

The challenge of reliably differentiating between visually very similar polymer types is often not sufficiently overcome by conventional methods. Valuable good material may be rejected, leading to losses in the material cycle. With NIR-Ai, Sesotec presents a solution that is based on artificial intelligence and allows precise differentiation of monolayer PET/multilayer PET, for example. This innovative technology opens up new possibilities for improved sorting performance and thus higher profitability.

OBJECT-Ai - Perfection for optical sorting

Machine sorting of heterogeneous material flows often reaches its limits when it comes to precisely identifying food and non-food items, for example. This is where OBJECT-Ai from Sesotec comes in. The color and shape sensor uses artificial intelligence to clearly classify each object. This enables reliable differentiation between good and bad material based on shape, color and texture. This opens up new possibilities for applications in which people can easily recognize differences, whereas previous sorting systems had difficulties.

Areas of application and advantages for the customer

The areas of application for NIR-Ai and OBJECT-Ai are diverse and range from the differentiation of various polymers to the detection of food and non-food materials. Customers benefit from consistently high efficiency, improved quality and innovative solutions that meet tomorrow’s challenges today.

Further information and live demonstrations

NIR-Ai is available for all models in the VARISORT+ family and can be retrofitted. OBJECT-Ai is available for the VARISORT+ FLEX, VARISORT+ FILM and VARISORT+ UNITY. These sorting systems are supplied with AI-capable hardware as standard. Further information and live demonstrations at IFAT 2024 at the Sesotec stand B5 415/514.

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