An Innovate, Manufacturing Made Smarter project aimed at improving the recovery of valuable plastic fractions, such as recyclable food-grade PET, from municipal waste in the UK is studying the feasibility of using RFID technology for better sorting results.
In the project, code-named SORT‑IT, packaging will be given unique digital IDs to facilitate the tracking and separation of packaging waste in a Materials Recovery Facility, or MRF.
Participating in the project is PragmatIC Semiconductor, a flexible electronics manufacturer, whose flexible integrated circuits, often no thicker than a human hair, could be embedded, for example, to create intelligent labels.
Demand for food-grade PET recyclate, already considerable, will soar as statutory targets for recycled content in food and drink packaging kick in over the coming years. While the current collection infrastructure in the UK allows for the capture of about 45% of municipal waste, the mixed nature of the recovered material makes it very difficult to separate food-grade PET from other plastics.
SORT-IT is one of a number of initiatives to increase the recovery of the material. Too often, food-grade PET is downcycled, most often to fibre, or worse, is lost to landfill. If successful, this project could lead to MRFs being able to grade their plastic output and appropriately price the different bundles efficiently.
“The problem of circularity is a complex one, and we see embedded electronics has the potential to be activated at multiple points through the life of a package, solving a part of the puzzle at each stage,” said Scott White, CEO of PragmatIC Semiconductor.
PragmatIC is collaborating with a range of companies in the project who believe intelligent labels offer interesting possibilities in sorting. “This feasibility study will provide a much-needed proof point for the Return on Investment of sorting using RFID” said Bobby Manesh, Research Lead at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre Cymru. “With the data gained we expect to be able to take this project forward to larger-scale deployments with partners in 2022.”