Walk any recycling yard from Rotterdam to Riverside and you’ll see the same choke-point: mixed plastic that looks like confetti. Turning that mess into clean PET, PVC, PP, and film is the job of used plastic sorting equipment. Pick right and you print margin; pick wrong and you own an expensive conveyor. Below is the field-tested intel buyers actually need.
1. Four Proven Separation Methods
| Method | Physics | Typical Feed | Clean-up Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| NIR Spectroscopy | Polymer absorbs 1100–2400 nm | 1–6 t/h flakes | PET vs PVC vs PP |
| RGB Color Sorting | Camera + air valves | 0.5–3 t/h flakes | Clear vs colored |
| Sink-Float Tank | Density in water | 0.5–4 t/h rigid | HDPE vs PP vs ABS |
| Tribo-Electrostatic | Surface charge | 0.1–1 t/h film | PVC vs PE |
Most plants run NIR first, sink-float second, then a polish step—often color—for 99 % purity.
2. 2024 Price Snapshot (FOB Europe)
| Condition | NIR Belt | Color 2-chute | Float Tank | Tribo Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | $48k–190k | $22k–55k | $12k–40k | $38k–110k |
| Used 3-5 yr | $26k–95k | $11k–28k | $6k–20k | Rare |
Add 8 % freight, 5 % import duty, $1.8k commissioning.
3. Hidden Costs Nobody Prints
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Oil-free compressor: 1.2 m³/min @ 6 bar → $4k if missing.
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Cal disks: $180 each, two sets per year.
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Platform railing: OSHA 42″ → $1.5k.
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Training days: 3 techs × 2 days → $2.2k travel.
Budget 15 % on top of sticker for full readiness.
4. ROI Tables from Real Plants
| Site | Machine | Cost | Premium | Tonnage/yr | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas PET | 2 t/h NIR | $72k | $110/t | 2,000 t | 11 mo |
| Poland PE | Color 1.5 t/h | $24k | €75/t | 1,300 t | 7 wk |
| Spain PVC | Tribo add-on | $38k | €190/t | 800 t | 14 mo |
Rule of thumb: above 800 t/yr, NIR usually breaks even <18 mo.
5. Insider Spec Sheet Checklist
✅ Valve MTBF ≥30 million cycles
✅ Camera pixels ≥256 for NIR lane
✅ PLC protocol open (Modbus/TCP)
✅ Local tech radius <500 km
✅ Camera pixels ≥256 for NIR lane
✅ PLC protocol open (Modbus/TCP)
✅ Local tech radius <500 km
Ask for 3-hour FAT on your exact flake; anything less is a gamble.
6. Used vs New—Hard Truths
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NIR sensors age slowly—7 yr-old units still hit 97 % accuracy if lamps & belts swapped.
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Color sorters lose 2–3 % accuracy per year after year 4.
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Float tanks are basically stainless tubs—age is irrelevant if welds pass dye-pen.
Red flag: seller who won’t power up the machine during video call.
7. Upcoming Tech Worth Watching
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AI retrofit kits: $8k bolt-on GPU + camera upgrades older color sorters to PVC-grade 99 %.
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Lease-to-own: 0 % interest for 24 mo on >$100k lines—treat as OpEx.
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Cloud dashboards: Remote purity logs beat clipboard audits.
8. Quick Buy/No-Buy Matrix
| Criteria | Buy | Walk Away |
|---|---|---|
| Missing screen test data | ❌ | ✅ |
| Proprietary software lock | ❌ | ✅ |
| Local spares stock <48 h | ✅ | ❌ |
| Valve log <20 M cycles | ❌ | ✅ |
Bottom Line
Used plastic sorting equipment is not mysterious—sensors, air valves, and a belt. Match the sensor to your polymer mix, budget 15 % for hidden costs, and always run a live test. Do that and the mountain of plastic becomes a revenue stream instead of a storage headache.
Comments(4)
This is way more detailed than I expected for plastic sorting equipment. Super useful for anyone in the recycling biz.
Who knew plastic recycling could be this complex? The ROI tables are eye-opening though 👍
Would love to see more details on the AI retrofit kits. How do they compare to new NIR systems performance-wise?
That ‘red flag’ tip about sellers who won’t power up the machine is gold. Been burned by that before!