Page 61 - Plastics News Issue - January 2025
P. 61
IN THE NEWS
to catylize the degradation of PET with this en- products in a shorter time and with higher preci-
zyme and another enzyme known as MHETase sion as compared to the employees.
to obtain monomers that can be used in forma-
tion of PET plastics. This process can be done Robotic Sorting: In waste streams, robotics sys-
at ambient temperature meaning energy and re- tems control with vision systems based on AI
source utilization is efficient and sustainable. to dispense and sort out the plastic materials.
These robots can tell which plastic is which and
Biodegradable Plastics: Biodegradable plastics sort them into their correct bin which allows re-
is another field where enzymes have started to cycling to be easier and minimize contamination.
demonstrate potential in the future. This type of
plastics is special in the way that they are more Optical Sorting: Optical sorting is a process that
easily processed at the natural conditions. By the utilizes lasers and sensors to distinct as well as
use of enzymes this breakdown process can be sort the plastic items depending their color or
enhanced so that the time taken for the plastic kind. This technology is often utilized in material
waste to disintegrate is considerably minimized. recovery facilities (MRFs) to enhance the sorting
system, and subsequently the purity of recov-
For many types of plastics, enzyme-based re- ered plastic streams.
cycling is still in the research and development
phase, but it provides a sneak peak into the cy- Therefore, knowledge about the state of the art
clical future for waste disposal. If a similar pro- and its connection to AI and automation shows
cess is applied, it could effectively decrease the that the progress of the recycling of plastic can
outlet of plastics into landfills and incinerators, be effective. These technologies can also be ap-
providing the plastic waste an environmentally plied in enhancing the rate of recycling of plas-
friendlier outlet. tics; the rate at which the plastic wastes are tak-
ing to the landfills.
3. Automated Sorting and AI-Driven Recycling
4. Upcycling: Turning Plastic Waste into Valu-
So one of the biggest problems in recycling is able Products
that many plastics are combined together which
causes a lot of difficulties. Manual sorting of
some plastics is time-consuming and cannot ef-
fectively be done but, thanks to the advanced
use of technology, automation and artificial intel-
ligence.
Specifically, the AI systems with the help of ma-
chine learning techniques is used to detect, sort
and segregate various types of plastic materi-
als according to their chemical characteristics,
color, geometry, and density.
These automatic systems are even capable of Upcycling can, however, be viewed as a subcat-
sorting large quantities of the disposed plastic egory of recycling; however, it does not encom-
January 2025 PLASTICS NEWS 61
