At Covestro in Leverkusen (Germany), the technical implementation of chemical recycling is now beginning on a pilot scale. On the way to industrial scale, the process is still being optimized and is undergoing further development stages.
“We know how our products are designed and can therefore conduct targeted research into recycling solutions,” says Dr. Thorsten Dreier, Covestro’s Chief Technology Officer. “The chemical recycling of polycarbonate is another example with which our colleagues in development show that closed cycles are possible in the future. We need to use end-of-life plastics as a resource and reuse them as alternative raw materials to close the loop.”
Mechanical recycling of polycarbonate is already an important component of Covestro’s recycling strategy. The mechanical recycling process is used whenever waste streams are sufficiently pure and the recycled polycarbonate meets the requirements profile of the future application.
In addition, Covestro is working on chemical recycling, complementary to mechanical recycling. It converts plastic building blocks back into monomers, i.e. their individual building blocks. These can be separated and serve as raw materials for future plastic. Chemical recycling can therefore make larger waste streams that are unsuitable for mechanical processes in particular accessible for recycling; it allows the production of plastics that meet the highest quality requirements.
See Covestro’s website for details
Image: Cat Us/Shutterstock
