company news about Polycarbonate PC Recycled Materials are Tight

  Polycarbonate (PC), an amorphous engineering plastic known for its strength and clarity, is sourced for recycling from a variety of post-consumer and post-industrial streams. Common sources include textile bobbins, automotive light assemblies (headlights, taillights), turn signals, food processing molds, CDs/DVDs, and telecommunications equipment.

The recycling process is meticulous. First, collected PC waste is sorted, often by color and type; for instance, modified grades from textiles are kept separate. Items like CDs and lamp covers that have metal coatings must undergo a deplating process, similar to that used for ABS, to remove the metallic layer. The clean, sorted flakes are then dried. Depending on the desired output, color correction is performed: yellowed PC can be used for opaque white products, while clean, transparent flakes can be reprocessed into clear pellets. Additives and colorants can be introduced during the extrusion process. The granulation must be carefully controlled using specialized extruders, as PC is susceptible to thermal degradation and molecular weight loss, limiting the number of times it can be effectively recycled. Recent environmental regulations in production hubs like Zhejiang Cixi have led to a government crackdown, shutting down many unlicensed and polluting small-scale recyclers. This market consolidation has tightened the supply of recycled PC, drawing high attention from manufacturers of PC sheets and boards who rely on this material.