Trinseo inaugurates PC dissolution pilot facility in the Netherlands

Trinseo, a specialty material solutions provider, announced the inauguration of its polycarbonate (PC) dissolution pilot facility in Terneuzen, the Netherlands on April 5, 2023. Trinseo said that the new pilot facility is a major step in its commitment to sustainability, part of the journey in realizing its sustainability goals.

Trinseo is currently in the R&D phase, the state-of-the-art pilot facility is situated in a temporary area in its Terneuzen site and will later be moved into the Central Process Research Laboratory in the same site, which is currently under construction.

“Dissolution recycling” is a type of physical recycling process where the needed polymer is extracted by the use of solvents. The extracted polymers will then be used to make new recycled polymers.

Trinseo announces the inauguration of PC dissolution pilot plant in the Netherlands, which allows extracting 100% recycled PC for use in new materials.

Trinseo’s PC dissolution technology is an advanced technology by which post- or pre-consumer materials containing PC, be it an automotive or consumer electronics part that is mixed with other plastics, metal or even glass, can be put directly into the solvent without any pre-treatment.

The solvent will dissolve PC contained in those end-of-life parts while all other non-PC materials will remain, and can then be used for other recycling purposes. The dissolved PC extracted is 100% recycled PC that could be used for compounding into new materials for an array of applications, such as mobile phone casing, printer enclosure or automotive parts.

“We are very excited to have started up the pilot facility for PC dissolution,” said Francesca Reverberi, Senior Vice President & Chief Sustainability Officer at Trinseo, “This technology deepens the potential in circularity.”

“This is a R&D milestone in Trinseo’s sustainability journey,” stated Han Hendriks, Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer at Trinseo. “With our expanding R&D capabilities and organization, more robust innovations are in the pipeline.”

The company added that the pilot plant will play a significant role in helping Trinseo achieve its 2030 Sustainability Goals, while accelerating recycling and increasing the supply of sustainable feedstock.