How is PET sorted?

PET can be sorted manually or automatically. Manual sorting is labour intensive as PET bottles are hand picked from the sorting line. Operators use sample features to identify the bottles.
Automatic sorting uses high-speed X-ray and Near Infrared (NIR) sensors to select PET and reject contaminants. Hand sorting still plays a role in the automatic sorting process as automatically rejected bottles are checked by operators (amongst others) to make sure no valuable PET is lost in the process.