German technology expert Steinert likes to tackle new challenges, recently focussing on tricky waste streams such as flexible packaging, black plastics and plastic flakes. Its R&D efforts in this area go back many years.
‘We believe in doing what needs to be done, even before the market realises it,’ says Steinert’s global sales director waste Andreas Jäger. ‘Our team believes in innovation, not just to be a frontrunner but to be ready for the future.’
Steinert has been a leader in efficient sorting since its launch in 1889. Having sold more than 5 000 eddy current separators around the world and plenty of sensor sorters — like near infrared (NIR) worldwide, the Colognebased tech provider has worked hard to craft a truly international presence.
In addition to 50 sales partnerships and joint ventures across the globe, the company has subsidiaries in Germany, Australia, Brazil and the US. Steinert employs a team of more than 550 people, generating an annual turnover of around EUR 200 million.
Modern hub
‘One of our newest projects, an advanced recycling plant for PreZero in Sollenau, Austria, was commissioned in July,’ says Jäger. ‘It specifically treats lightweight and multi-layer packaging and already counts as one of Europe’s most modern recycling plants.’
With Steinert’s help, PreZero is taking an important step towards securing Europe’s supply of secondary raw materials. This meant integrating no fewer than 35 sorting machines into the new facility, Jäger notes.
‘We helped the customer to design and build everything from scratch and the line represents pretty much our entire portfolio. We are very proud to see our artificial intelligence-powered UniSort near infrared and magnetic sorting systems contributing to this impressive project.’
With a built-up area of 44 000 square metres, the system at Sollenau can automatically sort up to 100 000 tonnes of lightweight packaging waste such as yoghurt pots and drinks cartons every year. Smart monitoring software ensures no material is lost. This degree of integration is also seen at plant level.
‘Our machines use the same database; they are all connected,’ Jäger adds. ‘This makes it easier from commissioning to launch and scale-up stage. Our big data approach means clients have a comprehensive overview of everything happening at on site. As they learn, they can adjust operations and throughput accordingly.’
Maximising uptime
Steinert prides itself on creating solutions that don’t sit idle, even for a short maintenance check. ‘In our industry, we usually talk about minimising downtime,’ says Björn Lövenich, Steinert’s head of sales waste recycling division, EMEA, India, Asia. ‘Our team takes a different perspective by we are maximising uptime. How? By allowing recyclers to operate our machinery without interruptions, even if the crew is doing repairs or replacing parts.’
Adding this extra flexibility has been a gamechanger for Steinert’s clients. Designing smooth operation into the system from the get-go is key to helping recyclers future-proof their business. It has a team of 40 technicians and engineers on-hand to assist around the globe. With response times of 24 hours for service work and deliveries of spare parts, they ensure that installed technology is always ready for use.
‘We understand that recyclers want to go deeper into products to recover every last bit of valuable material,’ Lövenich explains. ‘That’s why recycling plants are getting bigger and more complex. More thorough sorting requires more sorting steps, after all.’
Lövenich adds that Steinert’s expertise in the latest sensor technologies, as well as in eddy currents and magnets, is often hailed a ‘big plus’ as it means the operator can reach out to the same team to inspect the sorters and any other type of machinery.
Intuitive detection
Meanwhile, there is a growing volume of flat material awaiting processing. ‘We work with a lot of OEMs and they inquire about sorting 2D material, as they call it,’ Jäger explains. ‘This is mostly foils and plastic film which are difficult to deal with. Eager to address this, the tech provider has developed an active object control (AOC) system. What we do is guide the air in our sorting systems, which has a closed circuit, from the belt to the separation chamber and back into the process. The result is higher purity and higher recovery rates.’
Another demanding task is sorting plastic flakes, which requires high-precision colour sorting of bulk materials. The MSort AK chute sorting system is designed for this task and excels particularly with small grain sizes, handling particles from 0.5 to 60 mm. Steinert adds this is possible all while maintaining high throughput.
The tech provider also prides itself on being a pioneer in black plastics sorting, by plastic type thanks to the The UniSort BlackEye. It separates black polyolefins into their constituent parts – as proven in a project with Otto Graf GmbH.
No limits
While visiting Steinert’s test centre near Cologne, Recycling International saw how, thanks to a split function, a sorting unit was set up to handle two or three waste streams at a time. Examples of materials undergoing reliable and high-speed parallel sorting include flexible packaging, plastic trays and rigid plastics. A dedicated sorter for black plastics is a popular machine these days.
‘The best thing about our test centre is that our clients know they aren’t visiting a showroom,’ Jäger says. ‘If they see something they like, they can buy the exact same machines in the exact same configuration. If it works here, it works anywhere.’
Lövenich also showcased the company’s continuously updated intelligent object identifier (IOI) database. This AI-inspired recognition solution is particularly suitable for difficult sorting tasks where conventional methods reach their limits.
‘Recyclers can go deeper into a material stream, say, by separating PET bottles from PET trays.’ He explains the set-up: ‘Our engineers feed the neural network with millions of images. This teaches the system to recognise subtle differences, even if the material is dirty or damaged. As a result, our IOI can differentiate between food-grade and non-food-grade plastic packaging.’
This is a ‘huge win’ for OEMs and customers wanting to boost their recycled content. Longterm client RE Plano, a Remondis subsidiary, is using an IOI sorter at its plant in Bochum to separate silicone cartridges from a polyethylene stream.
While the outer wall of the cartridges is made of recyclable PE, silicone residue on the inside can contaminate the recycled product. The IOI recognises characteristic features to identify the cartridges, so they can be separated in a targeted manner.
‘Big data will remain a key theme for recyclers so we will keep expanding our know-how of recyclables and new products. Our database is growing every day,’ Lövenich says. For his team, it’s clear that tapping into deep learning algorithms has enabled new and exciting ways of sorting.
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