IDEC and Osaka University develop a sensor that can detect six different plastic materials using five-wavelength laser beams. The sensor is currently

At the center of a new, automated plastic sorting system is a sensor that can detect the differences among six types of detectable plastics: PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PE (polyethylene), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), PP (polypropylene), PS (polystyrene) and ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene).

The sorting system relies on two sensors, a proximity sensor to detect the presence of an object in the system, and a new plastic material sensor from IDEC. According to Lanny Schuberg, IDEC product engineer manager, "The plastic sensor detects different grades of plastic based upon the resonant frequency of each plastic. Different plastic molecules have different resonant frequencies and by tuning laser diodes to these frequencies, they excite the molecule of the plastic and are thus detected."

Source:designnews