Plastics are widely used materials since their commercial development in the 20th century. Among their many different types, Poly(bisphenol A carbonate), PC, has achieved large usage in the electronic industry due to its intrinsic properties such as physical and thermal durability. Since the life-span of electronic devices is becoming shorter as a consequence of more technological demands, PC has become a growing portion of plastic-waste. Similar to other plastics, PC does not degrade in the environment; thus, it continues to accumulate -particularly in landfills. Therefore, the development of an efficient method of recycling PC, without “downgrading” it, needs to be implemented in order to avert PC from causing further environmental harm. Furthermore, the formation of circular economies for materials that are common, but with lasting lives in the environment, is becoming a pertinent issue; thus, in the development of recycling methodologies it is of utmost importance that green chemistry techniques are implemented. Chemical recycling offers the possibility of fully recycling PC and reforming it without any loss of its properties. This would redirect it from its end place in the environment to a new PC product. Our project scrutinizes and expands the current knowledge of methanolysis to chemically recycle PC back into its monomers: bisphenol A and dimethyl carbonate. Our methodologies employ microwave-assisted heating in order to increase the efficiency of the depolymerization of PC, and a systematic optimization using response surface analysis methodologies to evaluate various environmentally friendly organic acids as alcoholysis catalysts.

“Closing the loop” in the production and chemical recycling of poly(bisphenol A carbonate) found in e-waste through microwave-assisted alcoholysis

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