NIR Masterbatch. The solution for sortable plastics

Granula® Masterbatch black NIR

The Granula® NIR masterbatch black is an innovative solution for all plastic applications where sortability in the recycling process is required in addition to deep black and opaque coloring. Conventional black colorations based on carbon black are practically invisible to sensors in the near-infrared (NIR) spectrum, which means that the components cannot be detected during material recycling and therefore cannot be separated by type. Granula® offers a sustainable and industry-proven alternative here.

An NIR masterbatch is a plastic masterbatch with a concentrated mixture of specific pigments and additives dispersed in a carrier material, usually PE polyethylene, PP polypropylene or PET polyethylene terephthalate. These masterbatch formulations are designed as a basis so that the plastic produced from them can be recognized by near-infrared sensors (NIR sensors) for sorting by detection in the recycling process and the separated material can be fed into plastic recycling.

Granula® black NIR masterbatches enable complete NIR detection when used in plastics. They are certified for contact with food (EU, FDA, China), highly opaque and stand up to comparison with carbon black.

Sorting black plastics

When sorting, it is common that plastics containing carbon black (the cheapest variant for black) hardly reflect in the entire wave range from UV to IR, so that they cannot be sorted out with the usual sensors in the recycling stream and ultimately have to be disposed of as a residual mixture.

Sorting plastics using NIR detection

The most common method for sorting recycled plastics is detection using near-infrared technology (NIR sensors). NIR detection in the sorting process works by illuminating and analyzing the light reflection based on the spectral signature. The identified polymer is identified and automatically separated via compressed air nozzles or robot arms. In this way, even black shredded plastic can be sorted out reliably and according to type.

Contact the specialists for black NIR masterbatches here.