Polysecure and HS Pforzheim have joined forces in a research project called präziSort, which is developing and validating a single-stage sorting technology for plastics and other waste materials called Sort4Circle. The project's goal is to significantly increase the recycling rate of plastic waste. The new technology will also support the transition to a CO2-efficient circular economy.
Polysecure is a Freiburg-based technology company specialising in resource efficiency and the circular economy. The Sort4Circle technology developed in partnership with Pforzheim University is the result of extensive research and development work. The partners are now constructing a pilot plant in Freiburg to demonstrate its potential.
A third partner in the project is state-owned Umwelttechnik BW GmbH. The project has received funding from the state of Baden-Württemberg, which has allocated €1.5 million from the Invest BW funding line to aid in both the technical development and market application of the results.
The patented Sort4Circle technology differs fundamentally from existing sorting processes, which primarily target packaging plastics and focus on a few material groups.
Rather than focusing on the type of material, the Sort4Circle technology identifies individual packaging items and assigns them directly to their respective material groups.
To that end, it utilises the tracer-based sorting (TBS) method patented by Polysecure, which uses fluorescent additives to reliably identify items regardless of their nature. A newly developed detector module simultaneously records both the materials from which the item is manufactured and the packaging characteristics, such as its colour and image, using near-infrared technology and Polysecure’s fluorescent marker substances, facilitating reliable sorting into pure fractions.
Polysecure will develop and build the pilot plant. Pforzheim University will contribute by generating economic, technical, and ecological data for the recycling of plastic flows.
Additionally, the project consortium is conducting a Germany-wide collection and sorting study to analyse the quality and quantity of plastic waste generated, providing basic design data for further development of the Sort4Circle process.
The project, which runs from October 2023 to September 2025, is funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour, and Tourism Baden-Württemberg as part of the Invest BW—Innovation II funding program.