This report presents findings from the Future 500 Bioplastics Sorting Project, a research effort to develop and test an optical sorting system for removing bioplastic packaging from various streams of recyclables. The goal was to determine whether an optical system could effectively remove polylactic acid (PLA) products from other materials as well as recover PLA for recycling into new products, and to gather input on the findings from industry stakeholders. The contractor constructed a mobile system (mounted on two flatbed trucks), processing recyclables from eight materials recovery facilities and three plastic reclaimers in California.
