| Product Name | GVR SERIES FLAKE COLOR SORTER |
| Model | GVR4 |
| SENSOR TECHNOLOGY | Dual full-color camera, Long-life LED light |
| Throughput(T/h) | 1.5-3 |
| Air Consumption (m3/min) | ＜2 |
| Voltage (V/hz) | 220/50 |
| Power (kW) | 2.9 |
| Weight (kg) | 1150 |
| Dimension (mm) | 2033*1829*1887 |
| APPLICATION | Color sorting of PET flakes Color sorting of PE flakes with customizable sorting solutions Color sorting for other plastic flakes, such as PP, PE, PVC, PC, PA. PS. etc. Effective removal of impurities such as springs and wood chips |
The GVR4 Plastic Color Sorter Machine is a four-chute optical sorting solution designed for color purification of plastic flakes in recycling and reprocessing lines. It uses high-speed visible-light detection to identify unwanted colors and visually distinguishable defects in PET, HDPE, PP, and other plastic flakes.
With an approximate processing capacity of 1.5–3 T/H, the GVR4 is well suited to medium-capacity recycling operations that need more consistent flake color before pelletizing, compounding, or further processing.
Instead of relying on manual inspection, the machine continuously analyzes the material stream and precisely ejects unwanted flakes with compressed air. This helps recyclers improve color consistency, reduce manual sorting requirements, and recover more usable material from incoming plastic waste.
Color can significantly affect the quality and commercial value of recycled plastic.
A stream of clear PET flakes, for example, may still contain green, blue, brown, black, opaque, or discolored pieces after crushing and washing. Even a relatively small amount of unwanted color can reduce the visual consistency of the finished recycled material.
The GVR4 addresses this problem through automated optical color sorting.
Plastic flakes pass through a controlled detection zone where the imaging system evaluates their visible characteristics. Flakes that match the selected acceptance criteria remain in the product stream, while unwanted colors are identified and removed through high-speed pneumatic ejection.
Typical sorting targets include:
The sorting program can be adjusted according to the incoming material and desired output, making the GVR4 suitable for both color separation and final flake purification.
The GVR4 primarily sorts plastic according to visible optical characteristics. If the application requires identifying PET, PVC, PE, PP, or other polymers that look visually similar, a dedicated polymer identification system such as NIR sorting may be required.
The GVR4 combines controlled feeding, optical detection, intelligent processing, and pneumatic ejection into one continuous sorting process.
Plastic flakes enter the machine through the feeding system and are distributed across the four-chute configuration.
Stable material distribution is important because overlapping or excessively concentrated flakes can make optical inspection more difficult. Controlled feeding helps maintain a consistent material flow through the detection area.
As the flakes move through the sorting zone, the imaging system captures their color and visible surface characteristics at high speed.
The processing system compares this information with the configured sorting criteria and determines which flakes should be accepted and which should be rejected.
Operators can adjust the sorting parameters according to different raw materials, colors, contamination levels, and finished-product requirements.
Once an unwanted flake is detected, the control system determines its position and activates the corresponding high-speed ejector.
A short pulse of compressed air changes the trajectory of the targeted flake and separates it from the accepted material.
Precise timing is important because effective sorting is not simply about removing contaminants. The system must also minimize unnecessary rejection of good flakes to maintain a practical balance between purity and material recovery.
A reliable plastic flake sorting process depends on more than identifying basic differences such as red, green, or blue. Recycled flakes can vary in size, surface condition, brightness, transparency, and contamination level.
The GVR4 combines several technologies to maintain stable sorting performance under changing production conditions.
The optical detection system continuously captures visible information from plastic flakes moving through the sorting zone.
This allows the machine to identify subtle color differences and visually abnormal pieces that may be difficult to remove consistently through manual inspection.
For applications such as clear PET purification, accurate recognition helps prevent isolated off-color flakes from lowering the quality of an entire batch.
Captured optical information must be analyzed quickly enough to make sorting decisions at production speed.
The processing system evaluates the detected characteristics and determines whether individual flakes fall within the selected acceptance or rejection criteria.
Sorting parameters can be adjusted when the feedstock changes, allowing the same machine to handle different color requirements instead of relying on one fixed program.
The ejection system works together with optical detection to remove targeted material.
Precisely controlled compressed-air pulses help eject unwanted flakes while reducing unnecessary removal of surrounding acceptable material. This contributes to both finished-product purity and recovery efficiency.
Not every recycling stream requires the same separation strategy.
Depending on the proportion of accepted and rejected material, operators can configure different sorting approaches, including normal sorting, reverse sorting, single sorting, and re-sorting.
For difficult feedstock, a second sorting pass can also be used when higher purity is required.
This flexibility allows recyclers to adapt the process to actual production conditions rather than treating every incoming batch in the same way.
The GVR4 can be integrated into different plastic recycling processes where visible color is an important quality criterion.
PET bottle recycling is one of the primary applications for optical plastic color sorting.
After bottles have been crushed and washed, the resulting PET flakes may still contain unwanted colored, opaque, dark, or discolored pieces.
For processors producing clear or light-colored recycled PET, these contaminants can reduce the appearance and value of the final material.
The GVR4 can be configured to remove unwanted colors from the target PET stream, helping produce a more uniform fraction for subsequent processing.
Typical applications include:
Post-consumer HDPE packaging often generates flakes with a wide range of colors.
Depending on the intended recycled product, processors may need to recover natural or white HDPE, remove dark material, or separate one selected color from a mixed stream.
The GVR4 uses visible color differences as the sorting criterion, allowing the process to be configured around the required HDPE fraction.
This can help recyclers produce a more visually consistent raw material and improve its suitability for downstream applications.
The GVR4 can also be used for PP flakes and other plastic streams where the required separation is based on visible appearance.
Once polymer type has already been sufficiently controlled upstream, optical color sorting can provide an additional purification stage before extrusion, pelletizing, or compounding.
For mixed-color flakes, the machine can remove selected unwanted colors or recover a target color fraction according to production requirements.
This makes the GVR4 particularly useful within a multi-stage plastic recycling line, where washing, density separation, polymer identification, and color sorting each address different contamination challenges.
Sorting capacity should match the actual material flow of the recycling plant.
Installing equipment with insufficient throughput can create a production bottleneck, while selecting an unnecessarily large machine may increase investment and operating requirements without providing meaningful production benefits.
The GVR4 uses a four-chute design and provides an approximate throughput of 1.5–3 T/H. Making it a practical choice for medium-capacity plastic flake processing.
Actual throughput can vary depending on:
For this reason, sorter selection should be based on actual material conditions rather than nominal capacity alone.
The GVR4 can operate as a dedicated color sorting machine or become part of a larger recycling line incorporating crushing, washing, drying, density separation, polymer sorting, color purification, and pelletizing.
For recycling companies, the true value of optical sorting comes from improvements in final product quality, not simply from how quickly material passes through the machine.
The GVR4 is designed to help processors achieve a more controlled balance between flake purity, material recovery, and production capacity.
More consistent flake color
Automated optical inspection removes off-color and visually abnormal flakes that can lower the quality of recycled material.
Reduced dependence on manual sorting
High-speed inspection is particularly valuable when thousands of small flakes must be evaluated continuously.
Controlled material recovery
Precise pneumatic rejection targets unwanted material while helping reduce unnecessary loss of acceptable flakes.
Flexible processing
Adjustable sorting parameters allow the GVR4 to work with different PET, HDPE, PP, and mixed-color flake streams.
Suitable capacity for growing recycling plants
The 1.5–3 T/H processing range provides an option between smaller sorting equipment and higher-capacity multi-chute systems.
Easy integration into recycling processes
Recycling facilities can integrate the GVR4 after washing and drying or place it at the final purification stage before pelletizing and other downstream processes.
Every recycling plant has a different feedstock.
A PET recycler removing a small percentage of colored flakes from a clear stream does not require exactly the same sorting configuration as an HDPE processor handling heavily mixed colors. Flake size, contamination ratio, target purity, throughput, and downstream application all influence the final sorting result.
That is why selecting a plastic color sorter should begin with the material rather than the machine specification alone.
If your recycling line processes approximately 1.5–3 tons of plastic flakes per hour. The GVR4 Plastic Color Sorter Machine can provide a practical solution for automated color separation and final flake purification.
Send us your material type, sample photos, current processing capacity, unwanted colors, and target output quality. Our team can evaluate your application and recommend an appropriate GVR4 sorting configuration for your recycling line.
Contact us for a custom GVR4 sorting solution and quotation.
