Abstract

ELGEGREN, Mariela, TIRAVANTI, Giulliana J., ORTIZ, Bruno A. et al. Chemical recycling of plastic wastes. Rev. Soc. Quím. Perú, Apr./Jun. 2012, vol.78, no.2, p.105-119. ISSN 1810-634X.

Chemical recycling can turn plastic wastes into a potential source of valuable organic chemicals. This work studied the depolymerization of three plastics commonly found in plastic waste: poly (ethylene terephthalate), polycarbonate and Nylon-6, a polyamide. Different reaction conditions were evaluated for each type of polymer. For each plastic, the yield was determined and the product was characterized by spectroscopic techniques. Good yields of bis (2-hydroxyethylene) terephthalate were obtained after treating PET with conventional and microwave heating. 90% of bisphenol-A was obtained from polycarbonate waste, while 80% of ε-caprolactam was formed from Nylon-6. These results show that plastic wastes can become an interesting source of chemicals.

Keywords: poly (ethylene terephthalate); polycarbonate; polyamide; Nylon-6; depolimerization; chemical recycling.