TAIHO INTELLIGENT: AI Sorting for Black Plastics and Mixed Metals

Waste Sorting & Separation | AI sorting for black plastics, mixed metals, and complex waste

The sorting problem in recycling

Sorting determines the value of recycled material. Mixed waste plastics and shredded metals contain different materials and colors. Black plastics with carbon black and recycled copper with impurities are especially hard. Manual sorting is slow. Single-band optical equipment cannot resolve material differences. The result is either insufficient purity, which downgrades recoverable material, or excessive loss.

TAIHO INTELLIGENT (泰禾智能) is a Ministry of Industry and Information Technology-certified national manufacturing demonstration enterprise. Its main business is AI visual intelligent sorting. Since 2004, it has built over 20 years of experience. The company combines visible light, near-infrared (NIR), short-wave infrared (SWIR), and X-ray multispectral fusion with deep learning algorithms. Its systems identify not only color but material composition.

Multispectral technical platform

Conventional sorters rely on single visible-light or single NIR sensing. They fail on black plastics and same-color mixed materials. Carbon black pigment strongly absorbs NIR, so conventional NIR cannot distinguish black plastic types.

TAIHO's approach combines:

• Multispectral composite imaging: visible light, NIR, SWIR, and X-ray sensors working together to analyze color, shape, density, and material. 
• In-house deep learning platform: trained on large sample sets, with transfer learning and few-shot fine-tuning for new materials (adaptation time depends on incoming material complexity). 
• Edge computing: millisecond identification and air-jet sorting, balancing precision and throughput.

Unlike single-function equipment suppliers, TAIHO develops its own spectra, algorithms, and machine integration. It holds over 600 patents and software copyrights covering cameras, spectra, algorithms, and complete machines. It offers complete custom sorting systems for recycled plastics, recycled metals, glass, and e-waste rather than single machines. Industrial internet connectivity supports remote maintenance, fault prediction, and remote model iteration for 24-hour continuous operation.

Two hard-to-sort materials

• Black plastic separation. Black recycled plastics contain carbon black, which conventional NIR cannot differentiate by material. Mixed black material output often fails downstream pelletizing requirements. In a project with a large Chinese plastics recycler, TAIHO applied an "NIR + SWIR + X-ray" composite sorting system to separate black mixed PET, PP, and ABS by material. After the upgrade, recycled plastic purity increased significantly, and output could be supplied to high-end modified plastics customers.
•  Recycled copper purification. TAIHO installed a "dual-energy X-ray transmission (XRT) + AI" visual sorting system for a recycled metals company. XRT identifies density differences to remove non-metallic contaminants. AI visual sensing assists shape recognition and category separation. The system separates copper, aluminum, and non-metallic impurities, and assists in identifying non-ferrous metals such as zinc. The equipment replaces large numbers of manual positions, improves recycled copper purity, and reduces downstream smelting losses.

From agriculture to recycling

TAIHO began with sorting rice, grains, and tea, then transferred its AI visual sorting technology to recycling and mining dry sorting. In recycling, business covers PET bottle flake and whole-bottle sorting, mixed plastic material classification, and recycled copper-aluminum purification. The company sells both single machines and turnkey recycling line systems. Equipment is exported to over 120 countries and regions.

The company operates national enterprise technology, national industrial design, and national postdoctoral research platforms, continuously iterating spectral imaging and AI algorithms for new solid waste materials.

About the exhibitor

TAIHO INTELLIGENT was founded in 2004 and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Main Board in 2017. Its main business is AI visual intelligent sorting. In late 2024, the company entered a strategic cooperation with solar inverter giant Sungrow to open new development paths.

Booth: B1A05

At-a-glance

TAIHO INTELLIGENT | Waste Sorting & Separation | AI sorting for black plastics, mixed metals, and complex waste