TOMRA Recycling has expanded the application range of its AUTOSORT™ PULSE sensor-based sorting system, extending Dynamic LIBS technology beyond aluminum alloy separation to include stainless steel, heavy metals, magnesium and incinerator bottom ash (IBA).

⚙️ Originally introduced in 2023 for industrial-scale aluminum alloy sorting, the system uses Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) to identify materials by their elemental composition. It can distinguish aluminum alloys such as the 5xxx and 6xxx series and has now been adapted for a broader range of recycling applications.

The expanded application range enables recyclers to process multiple material streams using a single sorting platform, reducing the need for dedicated equipment for each application while increasing operational flexibility.

🧲 Among the new capabilities, AUTOSORT™ PULSE can:

• Separate stainless steel grades, including 304, 316 and 201

• Identify and sort copper, brass, zinc and other heavy metals

• Recover valuable metal fractions from incinerator bottom ash (IBA)

• Separate magnesium from floated super-light fractions

Unlike conventional LIBS or XRF systems, TOMRA's Dynamic LIBS technology repeatedly targets the same point on a material, penetrating coatings, paint, oxidation and dust to analyse the elemental composition beneath the surface. This makes it particularly effective for challenging scrap streams where surface contamination can limit sorting accuracy.

One of the first industrial users of the expanded technology is Kaplan Pirinç Çubuk A.Ş. in Türkiye, where the system is used to sort brass into different grades for European and international markets.

"AUTOSORT™ PULSE has proven itself in aluminum alloy separation, and we have continued to develop what the technology can enable. Today, our customers can use one system across several material streams, from stainless steel to IBA, heavy metals and more. What changes is the application, not the technology," said Tom Jansen, Vice President and Head of Segments at TOMRA Recycling.

📈 According to TOMRA, the broader application range is designed to help recyclers respond to changing material availability and volatile metal markets by enabling multiple sorting applications on a single platform.