High-Speed Plastic Recycling
National Recovery
Technologies, Inc.
566 Mainstream Drive, Suite 300
Nashville, TN 37228-1223
Telephone: 615-734-6400
http://www.nrtsorters.com
Environmental Problem
Postconsumer plastics have become a significant bur-
den on waste disposal systems, totaling about 12 per-
cent (30 million tons) of the weight of municipal solid
waste in the United States. Transport and disposal to
landfills is expensive because of the light weight and
large volume. Disposal of plastics in landfills can be
considered environmentally unsound because of
their high resistance to degradation. Electronic waste
(e-waste) is an additional and growing problem that
can be a source of toxic materials, which pose a
threat to human health and the environment. EPA
has recommended recycling of plastics and e-waste
as a preferred approach over incineration and landfill
disposal. High-end recycled plastic resins typically
are combined with virgin resins and used in manu-
facturing new products. To use these resins in new
products, however, it is extremely important that the
flake product used during the recycling process be as
pure and clean as possible. A large portion of recy-
cled plastics is from postconsumer packaging materi-
als, many of which contain mixed polymers. Mixed
polymers do not recycle well, so they must be cleanly
sorted to have a wide range of uses.
SBIR Technology Solution
With support from EPA's Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) Program, National Recovery Tech-
nologies, Inc. (NRT), developed FlakeSort™, a sort-
ing system used for preparing a high-quality plastics
resin material from recovered postconsumer plastics
packaging materials. The FlakeSort™ system is the
world's first sorting system designed to make high-
accuracy, small particle, polymer-specific identifica-
tions and sorts in industrial feed streams of polymer
flakes or pellets.
The FlakeSort™ system is a field-tested, industrial
duty, computerized process combining leading-
edge, polymer-specific infrared spectroscopic detec-
tion with proprietary high-speed identification
algorithms to scan and classify polymer flakes or pel-
lets fed through the unit at high volumes. The
process employs precision air jet ejection to sort
particles of a selected polymer or polymers from the
feed stream using a binary sort approach. High-
speed proprietary polymer-specific infrared spectro-
scopic sensing technology provides significantly
improved performance over nonspecific technolo-
gies such as X-ray-based systems.
The system uses an array of specialized wavelength-
dispersive infrared detectors to read spectral charac-
teristics of plastic flakes as they pass at high speed
through a detection zone. The technology can
measure and sort contaminants up to 15,000 plastic
flakes per second with highly accurate performance.
The system is designed for ease of use and incorpo-
rates a color touchscreen operator interface for
presenting operating status and diagnostics data and
for accepting operator input. It also incorporates
high speed Internet connectivity providing world-
wide factory diagnostics and software upgrades.
EPA funding also has helped NRT develop a full line
of sorting equipment:
• The VinylCycle X-ray automated sorter separates
polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from post-consumer
mixed plastics streams;
The MultiSort™ ES family of sorters separates plastic
products by color/shape and polymer type;
The MultiSort™ IR family of sorters applies infrared spec-
troscopic sensing technologies to separate plastic prod-
ucts by polymer;
The FlakeAnalyzer^*" family of automated analytical
process control systems provides either laboratory batch
analyses or continuous online system analyses of plastic
flakes.
The SpydIR™ system identifies many polymers, and re-
moves selected ones from a process stream of clear or
opaque objects.
The DXRT™ separates materials at high speed according
to relative atomic number composition using an ad-
vanced multiple X-ray sorting system. This technology
can remove materials containing brominated flame re-
tardants from e-waste streams.
The MetalDirector™ separates metals from nonmetals
and is highly efficient at recovering aluminum cans from
process streams during the recycling process and in re-
moving tramp metals during the purification of plastic
flake.
SBIR Success Stories
NRT DXRT™ system at work sorting materials in an
electronics waste processing facility.

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Commercialization Information
The first FlakeSort™ system was sold to NRT's
Phase III partner and installed in the Midwest dur-
ing participation in the SBIR Program. This installa-
tion has provided a valuable test and evaluation site
for the technology in a production setting. Lessons
learned from this installation led to a more user-
friendly, second-generation product. These new
units now are in operation and give excellent per-
formance. Data show a measured 93% reduction of
polyvinyl chloride contamination in product resin
from facilities that have used the system. The com-
pany has sold installations of the FlakeSort™ system
to plastics processing facilities in the United States,
Europe, and China. These systems operate on a
continuous basis and each processes nominally
5,000 lbs/hour of polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
flakes. Furthermore, NRT has sold its sorting equip-
ment to e-waste processing facilities in the United
States and Canada for sorting crushed electronic
printed circuit boards and flame retardant plastics
during the recycling process. Additionally, NRT bot-
tle sorting equipment has been installed in the
United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Eu-
rope, Japan, China, and Australia.
Company History and Awards
NRT is a major worldwide supplier of automated
bottle sorting systems using X-ray and infrared spec-
troscopic technology. Located in Nashville, Ten-
nessee, NRT was formed in 1981 and has 20
full-time employees. The company owns or holds
exclusive licenses for 25 U.S. patents and 5 foreign
patents. Numerous other patents are pending or
are in the application stage. NRT has won various
awards, including EPA's Award for Outstanding
Achievement by a Small Business Enterprise in
1991, and a Tibbett's Award for "Recognition of
Outstanding Contributions to the SBIR Program"
in 1996.
The majority of the world's recycled PET plastics are
processed through sorting machines developed, man-
ufactured, installed, and serviced by NRT. NRT has
inspection equipment in operation worldwide and
has agents in Europe, Japan, and China with approxi-
mately one-half of NRT's business being export.
SBIR Impact
It is environmentally preferable to recycle and reuse plastics and
e-waste over other end-of-life options such as landfilling or incineration.
National Recovery Technologies, Inc. (NRT) developed the worlds
first sorting system designed to make high-accuracy, small particle,
polymer-specific identifications and sorts in industrial feed streams of
polymer flakes or pellets.
NRT has developed an extensive line of recycling equipment to sort such
waste streams as municipal mixed container and mixed paper, plastic bottle
and polymer flake, and electronic waste.
The majority of the worlds polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics
are processed through sorting machines developed, manufactured,
installed, and serviced by NRT.
SBIR Success Stories

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