Acrylic Recycling Method Recovers Up to 98% as Reusable Building Blocks

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a method for breaking acrylic glass down almost entirely into its original building blocks, according to Good News Network and ETH Zurich.

Both described the approach as a practical route to high-quality recycling of a material used in windows, car taillights, furniture and protective barriers.

ETH Zurich reported that the process uses one inexpensive, commercially available chemical and recovers up to 98% of the acrylic as pure monomers. The reaction begins just above 200°C, approximately half the temperature required by previous methods, and requires no solvents.

According to ETH Zurich, the recovered material remained sufficiently pure to manufacture products matching the quality of virgin plastic, even when the original acrylic contained dyes or impurities.

ETH Zurich also reported that the method works with existing equipment and standard processes, avoiding the need for expensive industrial overhauls. It attributed acrylic’s previous disposal as waste largely to recycling methods that were costly, energy-intensive or difficult to adopt.

The institution has filed a patent and is seeking industry partners to scale up the process. ETH Zurich identified Richard Whitfield as lead author of the study, published in Nature Chemistry.

Sources

• Good News Network: Scientists Discover a Simple, Low-Energy Way to Recycle Acrylic Glass into Brand-New Material
• New method makes acrylic glass recycling economically viable