Waste Sorting : Steinert expands NIR tech excellence centre

The STEINERT Group, a world leader in the development of sorting and separation technologies for the recycling and raw materials industries, is expanding its centre of excellence for near-infrared (NIR) technology at its Zittau site in Germany. STEINERT UniSort GmbH, a subsidiary specialising in NIR sensor sorting systems, recently moved into significantly larger premises, completing the next stage of expansion.
This investment underlines STEINERT's long-term commitment to the site and provides the ideal basis for future growth. The new company building covers 9000 square metres, a fourfold increase in space, and occupies just 25 per cent of the recently acquired 6-hectare site. By planning for the future, the company is creating further scope for expansion.

Expanded capacity optimises production and provides more space for development, testing and administration. The expanded test center, in particular, enables customers to test the materials to be sorted under real conditions and to verify feasibility, and also enables STEINERT to continuously develop its sorting technology. This is the second largest test centre in the STEINERT Group after the test and development centre near Cologne, Germany. “Through this investment, we are purposefully boosting a key technological area of the group and further strengthening our position as a driver of innovation in the global recycling industry,” says the STEINERT management team.

Stefan Stettler, Managing Director of STEINERT UniSort GmbH, stresses the significance of the expansion: “This investment reflects the confidence that the Buchholz family has in the Zittau site and recognises the tremendous work of our team. We will be able to greatly increase production capacities in the new premises.”

Under the slogan “STEINERT – The Resource Search Engine”, STEINERT UniSort develops highly specialised sorting systems for recycling firms the world over. Innovations, such as AI-assisted “Intelligent Object.Identifier”, are setting new standards in the industry and helping to optimise recycling processes and a sustainable circular economy. 

“We are continuously working to advance our technologies in order to be able to efficiently recycle more and more materials,” explains Andreas Jäger, Managing Director of STEINERT UniSort GmbH. “The new premises equip us perfectly for further strengthening our presence in markets such as the USA and Asia.”

The property modernisation work covered ten different plants and took eight months. It has resulted in an ultra-modern site with optimised production and development areas, an automated storage system and improved working conditions for staff. The expansion also brings financial benefits to the Zittau region, including more jobs, increased tax revenues and civic engagement through support of local initiatives.

NIR (near infrared) refers to a spectrum between 760 and 2500 nm that is invisible to the human eye. Typical patterns of materials, based on molecular vibrations, can be detected in this wavelength range after excitation with light. Even the smallest differences in the chemical composition of the detected materials can be assessed, as the hyperspectral imaging technology used by STEINERT is able to observe these typical patterns with very fine resolutions.