The PLASTNIR project addresses the challenges of recycling technical plastics —critical materials in sectors such as automotive and electronics— that currently have a low recycling rate of 30% in Europe.
Existing technologies fail to efficiently sort all plastics in waste streams, driving up costs and limiting the competitiveness of recycled materials compared to virgin plastics.
The project proposes an automated system based on NIR (Near-Infrared) technology, multispectral imaging, and machine learning algorithms to identify and classify plastics with high precision. This solution optimizes recycling processes by reducing costs, enhancing the quality of recycled materials, and making them suitable for high-value industrial applications.