Polycarbonate (PC) Recycling

2025-12-10

Polycarbonate is an amorphous engineering plastic commonly sourced from textile accessories, automotive lights, signal lenses, candy molds, CDs, telecom and photographic equipment, as well as plastic abrasive scraps. The recycling process includes:

Selection and sorting of purchased PC waste, often requiring separation by color. Some items like textile parts are modified, while CDs and lamp covers may have coatings.

Cleaning and deplating of colored PC, CDs, and lamp holders using processes similar to those for ABS. The materials are then dried, classified, and fed into an extruder.

Color adjustment: yellowish PC can be processed into porcelain white, transparent PC can remain transparent, and other colors are achieved using colorants and additives.

Specialized extruders are used for pelletization. However, PC is prone to aging and cannot withstand multiple recycling cycles, so granulation must be done carefully before cutting and packaging.

Recently, Zhejiang Cixi has intensified regulation of the PC recycled material market to curb environmental pollution. Many small enterprises lacking production licenses or operating in poor conditions have been shut down. This has drawn significant attention from manufacturers of PC-based products such as solar panels and endurance boards.