Grantee Research Project Results
Development of a Spectroscopic Molecular Bar-Code Reader for the Rapid Identification of Municipal and Industrial Plastic Waste
EPA Contract Number: 68D50119Title: Development of a Spectroscopic Molecular Bar-Code Reader for the Rapid Identification of Municipal and Industrial Plastic Waste
Investigators: Jiang, Yanan
Small Business: SpectrCode Inc.
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: II
Project Period: September 1, 1995 through October 1, 1998
Project Amount: $219,949
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase II (1995) Recipients Lists
Research Category: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
Description:
The need to recycle solid plastic waste is becoming increasingly acute in view of the limited availability of both landfill space in which to dump plastic trash and the petroleum reserves needed to replace discarded material. The National Research Council has identified the need for a rapid and reliable means of chemically identifying plastics as a Critical Technology. Without such a means of identification, it will not be possible to reprocess the billions of pounds of plastics that are being landfilled or incinerated every year. This Phase II proposal builds on Phase I success to offer a new spectroscopic device that is able to positively identify the chemical composition of plastic waste containers and scraps at rates that could ultimately exceed one-hundred pieces per second. This innovation in essence can be described as a Molecular Bar-Code Reader.The effort proposed will put Phase-I-proven principals into practice by building commercial prototype devices form rapid plastic identification using laser spectroscopy coupled with advanced optical signal generation, separation, and detection technologies. The end result of Phase II R&D will be three functioning plastic identification systems:
- a transportable system with hand-held read head,
- a battery-powered portable hand-held unit, and
- an OEM sensor prototype for use in automated solid-waste sorting.
Supplemental Keywords:
small business, SBIR, engineering, chemistry., Scientific Discipline, Waste, Chemical Engineering, Civil/Environmental Engineering, Chemistry, Municipal, Environmental Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Chemistry and Materials Science, Environmental Engineering, municipal waste, municipal waste plastics, recycling, waste processing, plastics, chemical composition, rapid identification, spectroscopic molecular bar code reader, industrial plastic waste, plastics identification, waste disposal, bar code reader, solid waste, waste recycling, plastics sorting, sorting systemProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.