Page 56 - Plastics News September 2024
P. 56
BUSINESS NEWS
Optical Sorting for Color Flexibility in Recycled
Plastics
aron Industries, a compounder of recy- customers and some applications, that’s not a
cled materials including recycled PS, PP problem. But for many consumer goods, color is
Aand PE from postindustrial and postcon- very important. Color can set a brand apart and
sumer sources, was able to enhance its flexibility add shelf appeal, influencing buying decisions.
and product offerings by implementing an opti- Therefore a supplier of recycled compounds can
cal sorter. extract more value from a given material stream
by improving color management.
Aaron serves customers in a wide range of in-
dustries, from housewares to agricultural. The “Customers have always and will always ask for
company buys recycled granules from outside colors — or natural, because they want the flex-
partners that process plastic waste by grinding, ibility of coloring it whatever they want,” says
elutriation, sink/float sorting and wash. Aaron Todd Marchand, vice president at Aaron Indus-
pre-blends different regrinds using a proprietary tries.
process to hit the customer’s desired mechani-
cal or aesthetic properties. In response to customer needs, Aaron Industries
purchased and implemented an optical sorting
Recycled materials are often a blend of different machine last year. The new equipment uses a
colors that end up as a black or gray. For some color camera and LED lighting to separate gran-
56 58 PL September 2024
PLASTICS NEWSASTICS NEWS
September 2024
