21/10/2020
What is carbon black?
Carbon black is a pigment that is used a great deal in a variety of materials to obtain dark and opaque colours (black and dark colours). It is highly cost competitive, since it provides excellent opacity with a low concentration percentage.
Why does carbon black create problems in sorting plants?
In anticipation of the extension of sorting guidelines throughout France in 2022, sorting centres have equipped themselves with automated optical separators to sort the various types of plastic packaging according to the material used (PP, APET, PS, etc.). However, the presence of carbon black prevents the detection of packaging, since it absorbs infrared light emitted by the device. The packaging in question is refused and directed towards the sorting centres’ general waste and is not recycled.
What other solutions are there to dark packaging?
As part of the AGEC Law (Anti-Waste for a Circular Economy), a number of stakeholders have spontaneously made commitments. Plastobreiz & Plastoloir also involved in this process. Our dark carbon black-free packaging was tested by two optical sorting manufacturers and then successfully subjected to the testing protocol setup by the COTREP (Technical committee for the recycling of plastic packaging). Dark carbon black-free packaging produced by Plastobreiz & Plastoloir is detectable by optical sorting devices.