JPH10119048A - Volume decreasing method for hollow thermoplastic resin container and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize the recovery of containers through the classification by their materials and colors and provide the volume decreasing method for a container, with which the efficient transport and recovery and the advantage of a waste container can be contrived, in the volume decreasing method and device for the hollow thermoplastic container, the interior of which is rinsed and then the volume of which is decreased. SOLUTION: A volume decrease is carried out by softening a hollow thermoplastic resin container with a heating mechanism 4 and then evacuating its interior. Further, before the volume decrease, the interior of the container is rinsed with the water or compressed air. At the volume decrease, a compression mechanism 5 is used. After the volume decrease, the containers after the volume decrease are classified on the basis of the material or color of the container and then recovered.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for reducing the volume of a hollow container made of a thermoplastic resin. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for cleaning the inside of a hollow container made of a thermoplastic resin such as a PET bottle (a bottle made of polyethylene terephthalate) and reducing the volume thereof. Stool,
The present invention also relates to a method and an apparatus for reducing the volume of a container capable of achieving efficient recycling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, PET is used as a hollow container for supplying various liquids, mainly soft drinks, to consumers.
A container made of a thermoplastic resin such as a bottle is used. These containers have the problem that, although lightweight, they are bulky and require significant expense to collect and transport after the contents have been consumed. Thus, the rate at which containers that are no longer needed are reused is very low and is often collected together with other garbage and incinerated or landfilled. However, even if incinerated, these containers
It is made of thermoplastic resin and has a large calorific value, so it is easy to damage the incinerator and shortens the life of the incinerator, so it tends to be repelled, and even if it is landfilled, the hollow volume is large, There is a problem that landfill efficiency is poor.

[0003] In recent years, several methods for reducing the volume of a hollow container have been devised in order to improve the efficiency of landfilling and the convenience of transporting and collecting used containers. For example, a method of cutting with a cutting machine, a method of heating and softening and compressing the container, and once raising the temperature of the liquid introduced into the container, evaporating and then sealing with a plug,
There is a reduced-pressure shrinkage method utilizing the volume change of vaporization and liquefaction to return to normal temperature (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-266336).

[0004]

However, none of the above-mentioned methods satisfy both the convenience of transportation and collection and the convenience of recycling.

[0005] That is, a container cut or compressed by a cutting method or a softening / compression method may be suitable for landfill, but since the inside is not cleaned, impurities (impurities) may be attached. Etc., which are not suitable for recycling. In addition, the method of vacuum shrinkage by vaporization of a liquid has a high boiling point with water and takes a long time to process, and a volatile liquid with a low boiling point (such as butanol) is flammable and requires careful handling and regeneration. At the time of use, it is necessary to collect the liquid remaining in the container after the volume is reduced, and there is a problem that the work of removing the plugs one by one is not only troublesome but also economically inefficient.

[0006] In addition to PET, various thermoplastic resins such as polyethylene are used for the material of the container, and these resins have different melting temperatures. It will be limited. Therefore, it is desired to separate and collect not only the material of the container but also each color in order to widen the recycling route.

Further, even if the containers are sorted and collected, if the filled liquid remains in the collected containers, or if impurities such as tobacco ash are introduced into the inside instead of ashtrays, For some reason, these residual liquids and contaminants must be removed before they can be recycled.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems and needs, and has as its object to reduce the volume of a container for cleaning the inside of a hollow container made of a thermoplastic resin and then reducing the volume of the container. Container volume reduction method and apparatus that can be classified and collected according to the material or color of the container, and that facilitates efficient transportation / collection and recycling of unnecessary containers. Is provided.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a method for reducing the volume of a container according to the first aspect of the present invention is to heat and soften the hollow container made of thermoplastic resin. The interior is decompressed to reduce the volume. Since the heated and softened resin is deformed, the shape after volume reduction can be maintained. The heating can be performed simultaneously with or before the pressure reduction, and in any case, the volume of the softened container can be reduced. Further, since the inside of the softened container is decompressed, the side wall of the container can be folded inside, and the volume can be reduced compactly.

The volume reduction method of the container according to claim 2 is a method of cleaning the inside of the container with water or a compressed gas before reducing the volume, in addition to the method according to claim 1. Since heating is carried out after washing in advance, there is no possibility that foreign matter may be fused to the container wall softened by heating, and the container whose volume has been reduced can be easily reused.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the container is further reduced by using a compression mechanism. Since the volume of the heat-softened container is reduced not only by decompression but also by a compression mechanism, the container is compressed and becomes more compact.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first, second or third aspect of the present invention, there is further provided a method of classifying and collecting containers after volume reduction based on the material or color of the container. In addition, it can be easily brought to the recycling process.

The container volume reducing device according to claim 5 is
(A) an opening formed to receive a hollow container made of a thermoplastic resin, (b) a stopper for supporting the container inserted from the opening, and a stopper for the container supported by the stopper A gripping mechanism having a plug gripping means for gripping a plug that is not mounted, (c) a heating mechanism for heating the container, and (d) a pressure reducing means. And the heating mechanism softens the container to reduce the pressure inside the container to reduce the volume. The inside of the heated and softened container is depressurized by decompression means connected to the plug. Softening by heating is
At the same time as or before the start of decompression,
The container wall is plastically deformed. The cooling can be performed by a known cooling device in addition to the natural cooling. The container is folded inward by depressurization to reduce its volume.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container volume reducing device, comprising: a discharge / decompression block capable of switching and connecting a plug portion gripped by the gripping mechanism to a discharge port and a pressure reducing means; and a hole in a bottom portion of the container. And a washing mechanism comprising a compressor for injecting water or compressed gas from the hollow needle through the control valve into the container through a control valve, and connecting the spout to the outlet. The inside of the container is washed by a washing mechanism, and thereafter, the control valve is closed, the plug is connected to a pressure reducing means, and the inside of the container is reduced in pressure to reduce the volume. Water or compressed gas is injected from the bottom surface of the container where the plug is gripped by the gripping mechanism, and internal impurities and the like are discharged from the plug toward the outlet. By washing before heating, impurities such as impurities do not adhere to the container wall,
The container after volume reduction can be easily reused.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container volume reducing device, wherein the heating mechanism is capable of contacting a bottom surface or a side surface of the container, and the heating type is moved or shaped in a direction for reducing the volume of the container. It is equipped with a heating type moving means for changing, and it is configured to be able to move the heating type and compress the container as the container softens, so that in addition to volume reduction by decompression, volume reduction by compression It is possible to reduce the volume more compactly by crushing the side and bottom surfaces and the plug.

9. The container volume reducing device according to claim 8, wherein said heating mold has a shape measuring means for measuring a bottom shape and a length of said container, and a storage means for storing data measured by said shape measuring means. And a shape adapting means for changing the inner diameter or the shape of the heating mold according to the bottom shape of the container stored by the storage means. The container is configured so that the softening of the container proceeds sequentially from the bottom side toward the plug portion. The container is sequentially heated and softened from the bottom side to the plug by reducing the pressure while adjusting the heating mold in contact with the bottom to the shape of the bottom and lowering the heating mold from the bottom toward the plug. The pressure in the container is reduced, and the volume of the container wall is reduced while being bent from the softened portion to the inside. Therefore, since the volume is reduced to a certain size and compact, the handling at the time of recycling is convenient.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the container volume reducing device further includes a compression mechanism for crushing the container and configured to further promote the volume reduction of the container reduced in volume by the heating mechanism and the pressure reducing means. It is. The container that is still soft after being reduced in volume by heating is crushed by a compression mechanism. This makes it even more compact.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the fifth to ninth aspects of the present invention, there is provided a container volume reduction device for at least a refractive index measuring means for identifying a material of the container and a color of the container. One of the reflection wavelength measuring means,
A storage unit for storing the material or color of the container identified by the measuring unit; and a distribution unit for distributing the container after volume reduction to the classification and collection box based on the material or color of the container stored by the storage unit. It is provided.
Upon completion of volume reduction, classify containers by material or color. In addition, since it is washed before volume reduction, it can be directly used for recycling.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to illustrated examples. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of the container volume reducing device of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 6 are explanatory views of a main part and operation of the device of FIG.

The method and apparatus for reducing the volume of a container of the present invention
A method and an apparatus for reducing the volume of a hollow container (a so-called PET bottle or the like) made of a thermoplastic resin such as ET and polyethylene. Then, it is preferable to heat the container after cleaning the inside of the container with water or a compressed gas.

[0021] The container is washed before being softened by heating to remove residues and contaminants such as tobacco ash.
Therefore, there is no possibility that foreign matter is mixed into the softened container wall and solidified by welding. In addition, since the inside of the material softened by heating can be bent toward the inside by reducing the pressure inside, the volume can be reduced to a very compact size as compared with the material softened by heating.

Hereinafter, an apparatus and a method will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, the container volume reducing device of the present invention comprises:
Opening 1, gripping mechanism 2, cleaning mechanism 3, heating mechanism 4
And a compression mechanism 5 and a sorting and collecting mechanism 6. 7
Is a frame.

From the opening 1, in the direction of the arrow, the plug 10
The container 10 inserted with its a downward is supported by the stopper 15 and transported in the direction of the arrow, and the stopper 10a is gripped by the gripping mechanism 2, and further, the processing position A in the direction of the arrow.
Transported to. At the processing position A, it is washed by the washing mechanism 3 and is heated and softened by the heating mechanism 4 sequentially from the bottom side toward the plug while being depressurized by the decompression means 18. After the container 10 reduced in volume to some extent is turned in the direction of the arrow, it is separated from the gripping mechanism 2 and crushed by the compression mechanism 5. The container 10 thus further reduced in volume is indicated by an arrow,
The paper is transported in the direction, and is sorted and stored in the partition portion B or C of the collection box 57 by the classification and collection mechanism 6 according to the material or the color.

Hereinafter, each mechanism and its operation will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The opening 1 is open on the upper surface of the frame 7 and is tapered downward.
The container 10 inserted with the “a” facing downward is transferred to the stopper 15. In addition, the opening 1 includes an insertion detection sensor 11, a plug detection sensor 12, and display means (not shown).
The insertion detection sensor 11 is provided near the deepest portion of the opening, and detects the insertion of the container 10. Plug detection sensor 12
Is moved directly below the opening 1, that is, directly below the plug portion 10 a of the container 10 loaded and supported by the stopper 15 by the sensor moving means 13, and does not obstruct the descending container 10. It can be evacuated to a location. When the insertion detection sensor 11 detects the insertion of the container, the plug detection sensor 12 advances right below the plug portion 10a to detect the presence or absence of the plug. If there is a plug, it is displayed on the display means to notify the worker and removed from the opening 1 by an appropriate method. When there is no plug, the plug detection sensor 12 retreats,
The stopper 15 moves down to move the container 10 to the gripping mechanism 2 (see the arrow).

As shown in FIG. 2, the gripping mechanism 2 includes the above-described stopper 15 and a plug holding means 16. As shown in FIG. 4, a discharge / decompression block 19 is provided below the plug gripping means 16 so as to switch and connect the plug 10 a to the discharge port 17 and the pressure reducing means 18.

As shown in FIG. 1, the stopper 15
The lower end 15a is slightly larger than the diameter of the plug portion 10a, and the lower end portion 15a is a shoulder of the container 10 with the plug portion 10a protruding downward. It has a shape that can be supported from to the side. Further, the stopper 15 can be moved in the direction of expanding or contracting the diameter by the release means 21 described later, and even if the containers 10 of different sizes are inserted, the stopper 15 is firmly held with the plug portion 10a down. It has become able to support. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the stopper 15 includes a vertically moving means 20 and a releasing means 21, and transfers the container 10 received from the opening 1 to the plug holding means 16 provided below. The plug holding means 16 can hold the plug 10a of the container 10 firmly.

The vertical movement means 20 includes a drive motor 24, a rod 22 connected to the drive motor 24,
2, the stopper 23 is supported by the ring 23. Rod 22 and ring 23
Is threaded, and when the rod 22 is rotated by the drive motor 24, the ring 23 moves up and down. In addition, as the vertical movement means, a conventional appropriate method such as a cylinder and a rodless cylinder can be used.

The release means 21 is for moving the stopper 15 in the diameter increasing / reducing direction. When the container 10 is gripped by the plug gripping means 16, the container 10 is removed from the stopper 15 and the stopper 15 is moved. It can be evacuated upward. The release means 21 shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 is provided with a cylinder 25 capable of moving the cylinder rod vertically, and when the cylinder rod advances upward, the stopper 15 rotates about the fulcrum 26. It is configured to retreat from the position of the two-dot chain line to the position of the solid line. However, the release means of the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and a conventional appropriate method such as a method of moving the cylinder rod in the horizontal direction can be adopted.

As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 2, the plug holding means 16 includes a donut-shaped hollow elastic body 31 having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the plug 10a, and the elastic body 31.
A compressor (see FIG. 1) for injecting compressed air through a control valve 33 therein, and a support ring 32 for supporting the elastic body 31 so as to be able to expand in the radially reduced direction. When the plug 10a is inserted inside the elastic body 31, the control valve 33 is opened, the elastic body 31 is expanded inward, and the plug 10a is airtightly held. When the container 10 is gripped, the stopper 15 is opened by the release means 21 and retracts to the original position above the container 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, the discharge / decompression block 19 is supported by a frame 35 so as to be movable left and right below the plug holding means 16, and is driven by a cylinder 36. In addition, the frame 35 is provided with the plug holding means 1.
6 can be moved in the left-right direction while supporting the discharge / decompression block 19, and is driven by a cylinder 37. Further, the frame 35 and the cylinder 37 are supported by a frame 38 which is rotatably supported in the up-down direction (arrow direction). Can be passed to In addition, the discharge port 1 of the discharge / decompression block 19
7 is connected to the outside, and the pressure reducing port 40 is connected to the pressure reducing means 18 such as a vacuum pump.

The container 10 with the stopper 10a gripped by the gripping mechanism 2 moves in the direction of the arrow and is set at the processing position A. At the processing position A, cleaning by the cleaning mechanism 3 and heating by the heating mechanism 4 are performed.

The cleaning mechanism 3 comprises a hollow needle 41, a control valve 42, and a compressor 43, as shown in FIG.
The hollow needle 41 is moved up and down by a cylinder 44,
A hole in the bottom of. For the container 10 that has moved to the processing position A, first, a shape measuring unit 51 and a refractive index and reflection wavelength measuring unit 54, which will be described later, are operated. Then, the hollow needle 41 is lowered by the cylinder 44, and the bottom surface of the container 10 Drill holes in As shown in FIG. 4, when the hollow needle 41 pierces the bottom surface, the plug 10a is connected to the outlet 17 and compressed gas is injected from the compressor 43, and the compressed gas is It is discharged from the discharge port 17 together with the contaminants adhering to the wall. The compressed gas is preferably a gas such as air that does not affect the thermoplastic resin, and a liquid such as water may be used instead of the gas.

As shown in FIG. 1, the heating mechanism 4 includes a heating mold 50, a shape measuring means 51, and a shape adapting means 52.
And a heating type moving means 53, and a storage means provided externally (not shown).

The heating die 50 has a built-in heater and temperature control means (not shown), and is formed so as to contact the bottom surface of the container 10 and at least the side surface closer to the bottom surface. Although it can be formed so as to be in contact with the entire side surface, it is possible to efficiently fold it toward the inner surface by progressively softening from the bottom surface side. Further, the heating mold 50 can be set at an appropriate temperature from the shape measured by the shape measuring means 51 or the material identified by the refractive index and reflection wavelength measuring means 54 described later. Further, the heating mold 50 is provided with a shape adapting means 52, and the diameter or shape thereof can be changed according to the bottom shape or size of the container 10. As the shape adapting means 52, a scroll device,
Conventionally, an appropriate method can be used, such as a method in which heating dies having a plurality of sizes and shapes are prepared and replaced, and a method in which a heating die having radially slits is used.

As shown in FIG. 3, the shape measuring means 51 includes a distance measuring instrument 61, a rod 62 for vertically guiding the distance measuring instrument 61, and a drive motor 63 connected to the rod 62. The container shape and length of the container 10 are measured while moving the distance measuring instrument 53 upward. The measured data is stored in an external storage device. As the vertical moving means by the rod 62 and the driving motor 63, similarly to the above-described vertical moving means 20 (see FIG. 2), a conventional appropriate method such as a method of threading a rod and a ring or a method of using an actuator such as a cylinder is used. Can be used.

The heating-type moving means 53 raises and lowers the heating die 50, and includes a cylinder 55. As shown in FIG. 4, the heating-type moving means 53 first moves toward the container 10 which has been cleaned by the cleaning mechanism 3. Then, the heating mold 50 is lowered until it contacts the bottom surface of the container 10.

Thereafter, the plug 10a connected to the discharge port 17 is switched to the pressure reducing means 18 side, and as shown in FIG. 5, the pressure inside the container 10 is reduced while the heating mold 50 is further lowered.

As described above, the inside of the container 10 is depressurized, and as the heating proceeds, the side surface of the container 10 is lowered together with the moving heating die while being bent inward from the softened portion by the decompression inside. The heated portion of the container 10 heats and softens a new portion of the container 10 as the heating mold 50 descends. Therefore, the side surfaces of the container 10 are sequentially bent toward the inner surface of the container 10 to reduce the volume. When the lowermost point of the descent is reached, the heating mold 50 is raised while the pressure reducing means 18 is operated, so that the heating mold 50
Is detached from the container 10.

When the heating die 50 is detached from the container 10, as shown in FIG. 1, the gripping mechanism 2 is turned in the direction of the arrow by turning the frame 38 by driving the drive motor 39. After the reversal, the operation of the pressure reducing means 18 is stopped, the control valve 33 of the plug holding means 16 is opened, and the elastic body 31
Is returned to its original state, and the plug 10a is released. The container 10 with the plug portion released is dropped downward and reaches the compression mechanism 5.

As shown in FIG. 6, the compression mechanism 5
And two compression rollers 64 and 65. Compression mechanism 5
The container 10 dropped into the container is still hot and soft, and is further crushed by the compression rollers 64 and 65 to reduce its volume.

The containers crushed by the compression mechanism 5 are sorted and collected by a sorting and collecting mechanism 6 into collection boxes for each material or color. As shown in FIG. 1, the sorting and collecting mechanism 6 includes a refractive index and reflection wavelength measuring unit 54 and a sorting plate 56.
And a distributing means including a rotary actuator 58 for rotating the distributing plate 56 to an appropriate angle and a collection box 57, and a storage means (not shown).

The refractive index and reflection wavelength measuring means 54 identifies the material of the container 10 by the refractive index of light and the color by the reflection wavelength, and the identified data is stored in the storage means. The refractive index and reflection wavelength measuring means 54 is preferably configured so that light is incident on the container 10 at the processing position A, and the data is also used for controlling the heating temperature of the container.

The distribution plate 56 of the distribution means is located immediately below the compression rollers 64 and 65,
4, the container 10 extruded from 65 is received and introduced into the section B or C of the collection box 57 by changing the inclination angle.

[0045]

As described above, in the container volume reducing method according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the inside of the container is washed with water or a compressed gas, and then the inside of the container is depressurized. While heating.

Since the container is washed before being softened by heating, there is no danger that the residue left inside and impurities such as tobacco ash will adhere to the softened container wall and become integrated with the container. Therefore, almost all containers can be reused without visual inspection.

Further, since the container is heated while being depressurized, the side surface of the container is bent and folded inward. The product thus reduced in volume is very compact and very easy to collect and transport compared to a conventional rolled product of a heat-softened container.

According to the third or ninth aspect of the present invention,
Further, the volume is further promoted by being crushed by the compression mechanism.

According to the fourth or tenth aspect of the present invention, the containers are classified according to the material or the color at the same time as the completion of the volume reduction. Therefore, it is arranged that only necessary ones are appropriately transported to the recycling factory. And significant savings in transportation and storage costs are possible. In addition, since impurities in the container have been removed, the ratio of containers discarded without being reused is extremely small, and resources can be used efficiently and efficiently.

In the container volume reducing device according to the fifth and sixth aspects, the container whose plug is gripped by the gripping mechanism is configured to pass through each step of washing and volume reduction. After the plug is connected to the outlet and water or compressed gas is injected from the bottom side to wash the inside, the plug is connected to the decompression means, and the inside of the container is heated while depressurizing. Can be processed. Washing before heating prevents impurities such as contaminants from welding to the container wall, and facilitates recycling of the container after volume reduction. The heating at the same time as the decompression serves to fold the side of the softened container inward, so that the volume can be reduced very compactly.

According to the seventh and eighth aspects of the present invention, the compression while heating can be performed by deforming and moving the heating mold.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of one embodiment of a thermoplastic resin volume reducing device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the configuration and operation of an opening and a gripping mechanism of the volume reduction device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a shape measuring means of the volume reducing device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration and operation of a cleaning mechanism, a heating mechanism, and a discharge / decompression block of the volume reduction device of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration and operation of a cleaning mechanism, a heating mechanism, and a discharge / decompression block of the volume reduction device of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration and operation of a compression mechanism and a classification and recovery mechanism of the volume reduction device of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Opening part 2 Grasping mechanism 3 Cleaning mechanism 4 Heating mechanism 5 Compression mechanism 6 Sorting and collecting mechanism 10 Container 10a Plug part 11 Input sensor 12 Plug detection sensor 15 Stopper 16 Port plug gripping means 17 Discharge port 18 Pressure reducing means 19 Decompression block 41 Hollow needle 42 Control valve 43 Compressor 50 Heating type 51 Shape measuring means 52 Shape adapting means 53 Heating type moving means 54 Refractive index and reflection wavelength measuring means 64, 65 Compression roller

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification symbol FI // B29K 67:00 105: 26

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A method for reducing the volume of a container, comprising heating and softening the hollow container made of a thermoplastic resin, and reducing the volume by reducing the inside of the container. 2. The method for reducing the volume of a container according to claim 1, wherein the container is washed with water or a compressed gas before reducing the volume. 3. The container volume reducing method according to claim 1, further comprising using a compression mechanism when reducing the volume. 4. The container according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said reduced containers are classified and collected based on the material or color of said containers.
A method for reducing the volume of a container according to the above. 5. An opening formed to receive a hollow container made of a thermoplastic resin, (b) a stopper for supporting the container inserted from the opening, and the stopper is supported by the stopper. A gripping mechanism having a plug gripping means for gripping a plug portion of the container which is not plugged, (c) a heating mechanism for heating the container, and (d) a pressure reducing means, An apparatus for reducing the volume of a container, wherein the stopper is connected to a decompression means, and the container is softened by a heating mechanism to reduce the volume of the interior of the container by reducing the pressure. 6. A discharge / decompression block capable of switching and connecting a plug portion gripped by the gripping mechanism to a discharge port and a decompression means, a hollow needle having a hole formed in a bottom portion of the container,
It further comprises a washing mechanism consisting of a compressor for injecting water or compressed gas from the hollow needle through the control valve into the inside of the container, and connecting the spout to the outlet to wash the inside of the container with the washing mechanism. 6. The container volume reducing device according to claim 5, wherein the control valve is closed, the plug is connected to a pressure reducing means, and the inside of the container is reduced in pressure to reduce the volume. 7. The heating mechanism includes a heating die capable of contacting the bottom or side surface of the container, and a heating die moving means for moving or changing the shape of the heating die in a direction to reduce the volume of the container. The container volume reducing device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the container can be compressed by moving the heating mold in accordance with the progress of softening of the container. 8. The heating mold includes a shape measuring means for measuring a bottom shape and a length of the container, a storage means for storing data measured by the shape measuring means, and a storage means for storing data measured by the storage means. In accordance with the shape of the bottom of the container, it is provided with a shape adapting means for changing the inner diameter or the shape of the heating mold, the inner diameter of the heating mold is adjusted to the bottom shape, and the heating mold is directed from the bottom side toward the spout. 8. The container volume reducing device according to claim 7, wherein the container is configured to sequentially soften. 9. The apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a compression mechanism for crushing the container, wherein the heating mechanism and the pressure reducing means further promote the volume reduction of the container. 9. The container volume reducing device according to claim 8. 10. At least one of a refractive index measuring means for identifying a material of the container and a reflection wavelength measuring means for identifying a color of the container, and a material or a material of the container identified by the measuring means. 8. The storage device according to claim 5, further comprising: storage means for storing the color; and sorting means for sorting the reduced-volume containers to the sorting box based on the material or color of the containers stored by the storage means. 10. The container volume reducing device according to 8 or 9.