Development of a Lux Meter for the Identification of Liquids in Post-Consumer Polyethylene Terephthalate Bottles for Collection Centers in Mexico

Abstract

This article aims to enhance technological advancements in the classification of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle plastic, positively impacting sustainable development and providing effective solutions for collection centers (CC) in Mexico. Three experimental designs and machine learning tools for data processing were developed. The experiments considered three factors: bottle size, liquid volume, and bottle labels. The first experiment focused on determining the sensor distance from post-consumer PET bottles. The second experiment aimed to evaluate the sensor’s detection ability with varying liquid levels, while the third experiment assessed its detection capability for bottle labels. A digital lux meter integrated with a microcontroller was developed to monitor illuminance in post-consumer PET bottles containing liquid as they moved through a conveyor belt at an average rate of three bottles per second. The implemented methodology successfully detected liquids inside transparent PET bottles when they contained beverages ranging from 25% to 100% of their capacity. This study highlights the feasibility of implementing an affordable design for identifying bottles with liquids at CC.