Low-Value Recyclable Waste Regeneration in China: High-Efficiency Automatic Sorting Method and Experimental Research

Abstract

The municipal domestic waste (MDW) generated in China is increasing year by year, but the waste that has been regenerated is very little. In order to efficiently sort low-value recyclable waste (LVRW), which is the largest recyclable part of MDW, we designed and manufactured a machine vision pneumatic sorting equipment with waste recognition accuracy higher than 92%. Furthermore, an automated sorting method combining Mechanical sorting, near-infrared (NIR) sorting and machine vision sorting was developed specifically for MDW sorting. In field applications, the entire automated production line we built divides MDW (100%) into six types (37.7%) of single material waste and three types (33%) of composite waste, which is very beneficial to the recycling of resources in the future.