Today’s packaging is more complex than ever. Between multilayer films, dark plastics, and food-contact coatings, traditional sortation systems aren’t equipped to keep up. Fortunately, new advances in recycling technology are closing the gap between recyclability and recovery, making it easier for companies to align packaging performance with real-world sorting.
Below, we explore three of the most important innovations reshaping recycling sortation today, and what they mean for the future of material recovery.
Mechanical recycling is only as effective as the purity of its inputs. Even highly recyclable materials like polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) lose value when streams are contaminated, mixed across grades, or improperly routed. In practice, poor identification is one of the biggest reasons recyclable materials fail to be recovered.
Modern MRFs rely heavily on near-infrared (NIR) optical sorting, which has dramatically improved recovery rates for major polymer families like PET, PP, and PE. But NIR systems are fundamentally designed to answer a limited question: What type of polymer is this?
That approach struggles when materials:
The result is often good recovery but inconsistent purity. And, unfortunately, purity is what determines value. This is where many new advances in recycling technology are now focused: improving identification accuracy upstream to protect downstream value.
Hyperspectral imaging is the next evolution in optical sorting. Instead of capturing a small number of spectral bands like traditional NIR systems, hyperspectral cameras collect hundreds of data points for each item moving down the belt.
When paired with machine-learning models, this technology can detect subtle differences in material composition that were previously invisible. These systems improve over time as datasets expand and models are refined.
What’s new:
Why it matters:
Challenges:
Hyperspectral systems don’t solve every problem, but they significantly narrow the gap between what’s on the belt and what the sorter can actually recognize. As one of the most impactful new advances in recycling technology, they are redefining what automated sortation can achieve.
Digital watermarking takes a different approach to sortation. Instead of relying on material properties alone, this technology embeds an imperceptible code directly into packaging artwork. High-speed cameras and software detect the watermark on the sorting line and use it to route the item appropriately.
Recent industrial trials have demonstrated that digital watermarks can be detected at scale, across millions of packages and thousands of SKUs, with detection rates frequently exceeding 90% under controlled conditions.
What’s new:
Why it matters:
Challenges:
Digital watermarks don’t fix recycling on their own, but they fundamentally change how precisely materials can be identified. They represent one of the most promising new advances in recycling technology for packaging differentiation.
Tracer-based sorting embeds fluorescent markers into plastic at the resin or compounding stage. These tracers are invisible during use but can be detected by UV or laser-based sensors during sorting.
Because the identifier is part of the material itself, tracer-based systems can enable highly precise separation even for black plastics or visually identical parts.
What’s new:
Why it matters:
Challenges:
Tracer-based sorting is powerful, but it works best where supply chains are aligned and participation is intentional.
These technologies are often framed as competing solutions. In reality, they are complementary.
The future of recycling isn’t one breakthrough machine. Instead, it’s a layered identification and separation stack, where each technology addresses a different limitation:
AI + hyperspectral imaging improves whole-object recognition
Together, they’re helping us make a change and allowing us to move from asking consumers to do more to building systems that can finally recognize what’s already there. This approach defines the next wave of new advances in recycling technology.
For MRFs and recyclers: Better identification leads directly to better economics: higher-value outputs, fewer rejects, and less reliance on manual intervention.
For brand owners: Design-for-recycling increasingly means design-for-detectability. Material choice alone is no longer enough without considering how packaging will be identified at scale.
For materials and packaging companies: Innovation must align with the realities of sortation. Compatibility with emerging identification systems is becoming a competitive advantage rather than a nice-to-have.
The main barrier is accurate identification and separation. Even recyclable materials are lost when sortation systems can’t recognize or properly route them.
They’re pushing brands to design packaging for detectability, ensuring materials can be accurately identified and sorted during the recycling process.
It captures hundreds of data points per item. Paired with AI, it can identify subtle differences in composition that traditional NIR systems often miss.
These are imperceptible codes embedded into the packaging artwork. Detection systems read them during sortation to route items based on attributes like food contact or packaging format.
Applications that demand high purity, such as closed-loop systems or food-grade PCR streams, see the greatest value. Tracers allow precise sorting by grade, origin, or usage.
Recycling doesn’t fail because materials can’t be recycled. It fails when we can’t reliably identify and separate them at scale. New advances in recycling technology are changing that reality, but material choices still matter.
If you're reevaluating your packaging materials in light of evolving recycling technology, ICPG can help you align material performance with real-world recovery systems. We work directly with manufacturers and brand owners to ensure packaging not only performs on the shelf, but has a better chance of actually being recovered and recycled.
Let’s talk about how your material choices can support recovery, meet safety regulations, and align with future-facing sortation systems. Reach out to our team to start your material review process today.