Optical Sorter Machine Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (Camera, Laser, NIR, Hyperspectral Cameras and Combined Sorter), By Platform (Belt Sorter, Free-Fall, Lane, Hybrid), By Application (Food, Recycling, Mining, Others) and By Region(North America, Europe, APAC, Middle East and Africa, LATAM) Forecasts, 2023-2031

Market Overview

The global optical sorter machine market size was valued at USD 2.46 billion in 2022. It is projected to reach USD 5.30 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 8.9% during the forecast period (2023–2031)

Optical Sorting is automated technique using various optical sensors such as lasers, cameras, X rays, Hyperspectral imaging, photodetector and sophisticated programming technology paired with accurate separation modules to sort products. In recent years, evolution in intelligent software and detection technology have given optical sorters machine new capabilities allowing to maximize yield and better understand critical aspects of processing operations. It gives higher performance with user-friendly and easily learnt software gives better quality product with the minimum good product loss is a big advantage of optical sorter machine. Innovation in machine intelligence to reduce human intervention is a major opportunity in optical sorter machine market in coming years.

Optical sorter machines are broadly used in various sectors such as food industry, waste recycling, mining industry, pharmaceutical manufacturing, nutraceutical manufacturing and many others. Optical sorting machine comprises of various advanced sorting technologies to meet the high demand of food safety standards of the food industry and individual food processors by removing foreign material and all unwanted discoloration.It has a wide Applications in Food & Commodities for Agricultural Seeds Sorting, Coffee Sorting, Confectionery Sorting, Dehydrated Food Sorting, Fruit Sorting, Grain Sorting, Oil Seeds Sorting, Plastic Sorting, Rice Sorting, Spices Sorting, Snacks Sorting, Vegetable Sorting and so on. It gives the most efficient and effective automated separation for paper, plastic, metals, glass, e-Waste, and more. Sensor-based sorting provides top efficiency, precision and speed for Gemstone sorting, slag metal sorting, coal and other fuel sorting in the mining industry.

Market Dynamics

Increasing food safety and security is the most prominent factor which is driving the growth of the optical sorter machine market. As consumers continue to become more and more demanding of product quality , there is a thrust toward improving sort performance to discover ever smaller and subtler imperfection. There is strict legislation which states that all food manufacturers are responsible for the safety of their food and that food must not be unsafe or harmful to consumers’ health. For example, in North America region, The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) (PL 111-353), signed into law on January 4, 2011, amended sections 414 and 704 of the FD & C Act , to expand FDA’s authority to access records relating to foods that may cause serious adverse health consequences or animals or death to humans.

Automating and managing the processes so that it delivers the required product grade at the maximum yield every time is one of the driving factors for the optical sorting machine market. Automatic inspection for quality control is a tireless, objective, consistent, and a fast method to achieve instant better results. It also offers the possibility of collecting valuable statistical data and documenting the quality process. Quality inspection conducted with advanced optical sorter machine also reduces waste and increases profit.

An optical sorting machine with the latest generation of artificial intelligence (AI) color sorter provides the AI super brain, comprises of X-ray sorting and NIR sorting technologies, can accurately remove almost all impurities in the product, and its sorting accuracy can be as high as 99.9%. For agricultural products, food, recycling, and mining industries Color Sorter machine has been widely used in the world. Optical sorter machine with artificial intelligence can carry out remote on-line intelligent monitoring of the entire sorting line using Internet of Things (IoT) technology to provide online debugging, online maintenance, and software upgrades, amongst other services.

Regional Analysis

Geographically, the global optical sorter machine market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, Middle East & Africa (LAMEA).

The North American region hold the largest market share in optical sorter machine market. This is due to increasing use of food sorter machine in food industries and strict Food and drug administration (FDA) regulation to ensure the quality of food. Pixelteq, Green Machine LLC, National Recovery Technologies, Inc, (NRT), MSS, Inc. are some the leading optical sorter machine manufacturer and supplier present in the North America. Green Machine LLC, the American manufacturer of innovative recycling, solid waste optical sorter and systems and equipment, is the only totally integrated recycling systems provider in the optical sorter machine industry.

Europe is expected to be one of the leaders in the global market in the forecast period, as the regions are increasingly focusing on removing impurities from food products thus boosting the market growth and adoption of sorting machine. furthermore, electrical waste in European region is growing rapidly. Recycling of these waste has become essential, so for the recycling there is high demand for the optical sorter equipment in the European region.

Asia-Pacific market is expected to grow in future due to increasing demand for optical sorter machines. Growth of FMCG, food industry, pharmaceutical industry, food & beverages sector are driving the growth of the market in the Asia-Pacific region. The growing investment in emerging countries such India, China and Japan in Agriculture, Industrialization and Pharmaceutical industry are expected to grow high demand in coming years.

The Middle East and Africa region, the market growth is mainly accelerating because of growing awareness among the consumers about the importance of the product and development of advanced products.

LAMEA is expected to witness considerable growth in the market owing to incredible opportunity for municipal solid waste sorting plants in Middle East to benefit from valuable resources, which can be easily recovered with automated sorting technology. Municipalities in the region can also take advantage of long-term prospects such as waste energy projects. Optical sorting machine is becoming more accessible to smaller players in the citrus industry in South Africa through better affordability of sorter equipment.

Segmental Analysis

Global Optical Sorter Machine market has been segmented majorly on the basis oftype, platform, application, and region.

On the basis of type, the market is segmented as camera, laser, NIR, hyperspectral cameras and combined sorter. A high-resolution camera in the optical sorting machine captures the images of the product and sends it to a computer. The computer can control more necessary to inspect other regions of the object. Specific lighting is adapted to enhance the detail that need to be inspected. Laser optical sorter machine is ideal for detecting a wide range of organic and inorganic foreign material such as insects, glass, metal, sticks, rocks and plastic, even if they are the same color as the good product and for separating various materials (equipment) at waste recycling facilities. Hyperspectral cameras and combined sorts utilize the light near infrared wavelength region to identify the chemical footprint of goods. Hyperspectral cameras and combined sorters are useful when the simple color sorting or the use of less than 2-3 wavelength is just not enough. Hyperspectral cameras and combined sorters increase the purity of many recycled materials close to 100%.

By Platform, the market is segmented as belt sorter, free-fall, lane, and hybrid. Belt sorters stabilize product on a conveyor belt for the inspection. Some belt sorters inspect product on the belt from the top while others also launch product off the belt for in-air inspection from the bottom. Free-fall sorting solutions combines the efficiency of the laser detection on foreign materials with the camera on shape and discolorations for products in free-fall. Free fall optical sorter is able to sort based on biological characteristics, such as chlorophyll, mycotoxins, water and can be equipped with a hyperspectral camera to identify the material’s unique fingerprint. Lane sorter is a simplest type optical sorter, that can be effective for products that are small, hard and dry with a consistent size and shape such as rice and seeds. For these products, lane sorters offer an affordable solution and ease of use with a small footprint.

By Application, the market is segmented as food, recycling, mining, and others.Optical sorting machine has a various application in food industry such as food grading, food safety, food technology and food sorting. The food is sorted with the help of sorter machine by color, size, shape, specific gravity prior to inspection and other criteria depending upon the raw material and application. Rising demand of food supply helps to boost the optical sorter machine market.

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