The Era of Excessive Yellowness Index Is Over – Now We Pursue "Both High Quality and Yield"

"Yellowness Index exceeds the standard again – another truckload of goods rejected!"

"Too many barrier bottle brands to sort out completely!"

"Every summer, Yellowness Index spikes to 8000ppm, sometimes even over 10,000ppm!"

Have you deeply felt these frustrations from PET washing plants? With increasingly complex barrier bottles and stricter bottle flake quality standards, traditional high quality clear PET bottle flakes washing plants are under immense pressure. Fluctuating Yellowness Index has become a "persistent worry" for many plant owners, directly impacting product quality and corporate profits. As a leader in intelligent sorting technology, DATABEYOND takes you on-site to two PET bottle flake washing plants in Zhejiang to see how they overcame "Yellowness Index troubles" and thrived.

＜01.＞ Zhejiang Hengxin Power Co., Ltd.

The Era of "Better Safe Than Sorry" Is Over – Now We Pursue "Both High Quality and Yield"

Zhejiang Hengxin Power Co., Ltd. processes 100,000 tons of materials annually, with PET bottle flakes as its main product. Liu Xing, Deputy General Manager of Hengxin Power, shared his experience in achieving quality breakthroughs through intelligent sorting.

 Q: What measures have you taken to control Yellowness Index at the whole bottle stage?

Mr. Liu: In our region, barrier bottles account for a high proportion – up to 10%-12% in summer. With traditional labeled sorting, we adhered to the principle of "better safe than sorry," but it was still extremely difficult to stably control Yellowness Index below 2000ppm. Now, we use DATABEYOND AI optical sorter (for labeled sorting) in the front-end sorting stage, combined with DATABEYOND FASTSORT-BARRIER-FLUO (for de-labeled sorting) in the back-end. The strong synergy between the two has completely freed us from the era of excessive Yellowness Index.

 Q: What is the difference in Yellowness Index before and after using DATABEYOND FASTSORT-BARRIER-FLUO?

Mr. Liu: Before using the sorter, Yellowness Index fluctuated drastically. In summer, it could jump from 1000ppm to 2000ppm or even 3000ppm. Since introducing DATABEYOND FASTSORT-BARRIER-FLUO, our light yellow flake index has been stably controlled within 500ppm, and the total Yellowness Index (including aged flakes) remains around 1500ppm. This level of stability was unimaginable in the past.

 Q: What advice would you give to peers still troubled by Yellowness Index?

Mr. Liu: My production team and I are fully assured of the quality. We no longer need to worry about the Yellowness Index of 3A-grade flakes, and the pressure on production colleagues has been significantly reduced. I sincerely recommend DATABEYOND FASTSORT-BARRIER-FLUO to peers still struggling with Yellowness Index – it truly works.

＜02.＞ Zhejiang Tongheng Environmental Protection Co., Ltd.

Flexible Production Across Multiple Lines & Product Types – Consistent 3A-Grade Quality

Zhejiang Tongheng Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. processes 100,000 tons of materials annually, specializing in PET bottle flakes. Facing complex industry challenges, Wu Likao, Deputy General Manager of Tongheng Environmental Protection, shared the secret of their "flexible production."

 Q: Did you encounter any difficulties in the front-end sorting stage? What measures did you take to solve them?

Mr. Wu: When I first entered the industry in 2023, there were only a few types of barrier bottles, which could be effectively removed just by bottle shape. However, since 2024, with the explosive growth of new-style tea drinks, the variety of barrier bottles has surged, exerting a huge impact on the recycling and regeneration link and directly causing the Yellowness Index of 3A-grade or food-grade bottle flakes to frequently exceed standards. After installing DATABEYOND FASTSORT-BARRIER-FLUO in October this year, we have achieved two significant benefits: 1. The yield of 3A-grade flakes has increased by 4-5% compared with before; 2. The control of aged flakes and barrier flakes has dropped from around 3000ppm to a stable 1500-2000ppm. At the same time, we have the ability to further reduce the Yellowness Index of 3A-grade flakes, taking control into our own hands.

 Q: What changes have occurred in production after using DATABEYOND's intelligent sorting equipment?

Mr. Wu: In the past, we relied on "labor-intensive tactics" for manual sorting, which had inherent drawbacks: low efficiency and difficult management, seriously restricting quality and capacity. At that time, there were more than 20 workers just on the sorting line, with a daily output of only 30 tons. Now, the entire factory has 20 employees, and the daily output has reached 150 tons. Since introducing DATABEYOND's optical sorters, we have achieved four transformations:

1、Transformation of bottle bale pricing method

From manual sampling and pricing of bottle bales to automatic pricing via the bottle bale quality inspection line.

2、Transformation of production method

From labor-intensive tactics to "machine replacement," we have greatly reduced reliance on manual labor, truly realizing a "Dark Factory" in the PET industry.

3、Transformation of management method

From manual production accounting to full-process digital support, achieving transparent operation management.

4、Transformation of production line operation mode

From fixed production lines to flexible production lines, enabling the co-production of raw bales and clean bales instead of only raw bales.

New technologies, intelligent equipment, and the integration of AI and optical technology are driving the entire industry towards a more standardized, controllable, and cost-efficient direction. This is a proven inevitable path to high quality and high efficiency that we have personally verified.

10 Ton Model Makes Its Debut – Super Large Processing Capacity, No Barrier Bottle Escapes

DATABEYOND FASTSORT-BARRIER-FLUO achieves precise sorting of barrier bottles, strongly aged bottles, strong fluorescent bottles, weakly aged bottles, and weak fluorescent bottles through the dual fusion of BARRIER spectral sensor and FLUO (fluorescent aging) sensor. Following the 4-ton and 6-ton models, DATABEYOND has launched a 10-ton model specifically for large-scale PET bottle flake washing plant customers:

*The above data is for reference only; please refer to the actual equipment. Sorting accuracy and maximum processing capacity may vary depending on incoming materials.

Model Explanation:

FASTSORT – DATABEYOND crawler-type optical sorter series

BARRIER – Barrier spectral sensor

FLUO – Fluorescent aging sensor

20 – Effective working width of the high-speed belt is 2 meters

4 – Effective working length of the high-speed belt is 4 meters

Pro – Upgraded model with a high-speed belt speed of 3 meters per second