Infrared vs. Visual-Based Plastic Color Sorters: What's Best?

In material-intensive industries where efficiency and purity are not a choice, choosing the appropriate plastic sorting machine matters. Whether you're operating a manufacturing line or recycling plant, your sorting system is central to productivity in operation as well as product quality. Amidst technological growth that fuels automation and precision in sorting materials, infrared (IR) and visual-based color sorting are the two leading technologies. But which is better? In this in-depth review, we will examine both systems, their uses, advantages and disadvantages, and how Mark Color Sorter provides industry-leading solutions for both technologies.

The Role of Color Sorting Across Industries

Color sorting technology is not confined to plastic recycling alone. It's also commonly applied in food processing companies like nut and grain sorting. High-performance cashew color sorting, for instance, maintains the quality of shelled or unshelled nuts by eliminating discolored or damaged cashews. Cross-industry needs have fueled innovation in sorting technologies, thereby making the selection between infrared and visual sorting even more pertinent.

Introduction to Plastic Sorting Technologies

Plastic products, especially in the context of recycling, tend to arrive unsorted by color, shape, and type. To yield good-quality streams of plastic, sorting is needed efficiently. Almond Sorter Machine technology, while originally in the food industry, has fundamental technology in common with plastic sorting—using cameras or sensors to detect color or material disparities. Precision and speed are important in plastics as in almonds.

At the core of this transformation is the Mark Color Sorter, a company known to incorporate next-generation optics and artificial intelligence into their sorting machines. With applications ranging from food to industrial, your selection of sorting technology—infrared or visual—should be complementary to your material type and quality needs. 

Visual-Based Plastic Color Sorters

Visual sortation is dependent on high-resolution cameras to identify variations in color, shape, and occasionally texture. Visual systems are best used when the plastics have starkly contrasting colors, enabling the cameras to sort on RGB (Red, Green, Blue) profiles. Visual sorters are superior in situations where contaminants appear visually different from target plastic materials.

For instance, in a case where transparent PET bottles have green or blue fragments, a visual system can efficiently identify and eliminate the colored intrusions. The operation is quick and economical, with limited maintenance needs for optical components.

These machines are also often taken directly from food sorting technology, like industrial grain, bean, and seed color sorting machines. They are an appropriate option for companies already experienced in using optical sort technology.

Advantages of Visual-Based Sorters:

Lower expense than infrared systems

Easy calibration and operation

Fast sorting for obviously different colors

Combing with existing color-sorting systems (like almond or grain sorters)

Disadvantages:

Less efficient with clear or similar-colored plastics

Difficulties with material composition that has common color characteristics

Sensitive to ambient lighting disturbance

Infrared-Based Plastic Color Sorters

Infrared (specifically Near-Infrared or NIR) plastic color sorters work according to a different mechanism. Instead of sensing visible color, they examine the material's spectral fingerprint. All plastics—PET, HDPE, PVC, LDPE—respond differently to infrared light. This enables NIR systems to identify and sort plastics even when they are identical in color or appear identical.

The Mark Color Sorter provides advanced infrared sorting units that can detect more than one type of polymer in a single pass. The units are provided with hyperspectral sensors and artificial intelligence-powered algorithms for high accuracy and reliability.

Infrared sorters are also common in food and industrial sorting applications. Their use is not restricted to plastics alone; they are employed in procedures where classic visual cameras do not suffice—like the sorting of plastics that are transparent or black, frequently overlooked by visual-only systems.

Advantages of Infrared Sorters:

Identifies plastic type independent of color

Better performance with transparent or black plastics

Best suited for high-purity recycling streams

Immune to interference from light and surface texture

Disadvantages:

Higher up-front investment

More intricate setup and upkeep

May involve material pre-treatment (e.g., drying, cleaning)

Performance Comparison: Which One to Use?

When comparing visual-based vs. infrared-based plastic color sorters, it's critical to match the capabilities of each with the materials and results needed by your operation.

Feature Visual-Based Sorter Infrared-Based Sorter

Cost Lower Higher

Color Detection Excellent Moderate

Material Detection Limited Excellent

Speed Very Fast Fast

Maintenance Low Moderate

Application Scope Color-based separation Material-based separation

Use cases for visual sorters:

Sorting colored plastics such as red PET, blue HDPE

Applications where visual inspection is adequate

Low-to-medium throughput facilities

Infrared Sorter Use Cases:

Sorting black or clear plastics

Recovery of high-purity polymers

Processing mixed plastic waste streams

Hybrid Sorting Systems: The Best of Both Worlds

Some manufacturers, such as Mark Color Sorter, produce hybrid systems that utilize both infrared and visual-based sensors. These systems offer multi-layered sorting, achieving highest recovery rates and purity levels. For instance, a hybrid system can apply visual cameras for color separation and follow up with infrared sensors for material-type sorting. This provides the assurance that even visually similar but compositionally dissimilar plastics can be effectively sorted.

Hybrid systems are particularly useful for processes that process a diverse mix of materials, i.e., municipal recycling plants or businesses that process post-consumer plastic waste.

Energy Efficiency and Environmental Impact

Another consideration that can affect your decision is energy use. Visual sorters tend to use less energy as they incorporate simpler processing and lighting units. Infrared sorters use more energy because they have more complex sensors and lighting units.

That being said, the energy consumption of an industrial color sorter is not the best measure of its efficiency. Recovery percentage, accuracy of sorting, and purity are all also crucial in establishing a machine's effect on the environment. Increased sorting accuracy equates to reduced waste, greater recyclables captured, and less waste material entering landfills.

Why Choose Mark Color Sorter?

Mark Color Sorter is a brand you can trust in the global market of high-tech material sorting. From high-tech plastic sorting machines to recycle plastics to trusted cashew color sorters to fit your nut processing facilities, Mark provides machines that are optimized for precision, speed, and long service life.

Some significant advantages of using Mark Color Sorter include:

Modular design to facilitate upgrades and maintenance

AI-based algorithms to learn continuously and enhance accuracy

Easy-to-use interface for real-time diagnostics and control

Industry experience covering Almond Sorter Machine installations to complex plastic and industrial color sorting machine installations

Their dedication to quality and innovation makes sure that companies remain ahead in competitive quality-led markets.

Final Verdict: Infrared vs. Visual – It Depends

There is no universal solution to the infrared vs. visual sorting question. Each technology has its advantages and disadvantages, and the ideal choice is based on your particular material stream, output purity requirement, and budget.

Select Visual-Based Systems when handling clearly colored plastics and require a more economical option.

Select Infrared-Based Systems to achieve maximum material identification, particularly when handling color-alike or opaque plastics.

Choose Hybrid Systems if flexibility, precision, and high ROOi in the long term are your main objectives.

No matter what technology you prefer, Mark Color Sorter provides flexibility and innovation for delivering customized solutions in various sectors.