The German Institute for Plastics Technology (IKT, Stuttgart; www.ikt.uni-stuttgart.de) intends to carry out research, together with compatriot manufacturer of industrial moulds for chocolate, Hans Brunner (Glonn; www.hansbrunner.de), on whether and how polycarbonate moulds for chocolate can be recycled in the foodstuffs industry. 

Because of the demands on the chemical and mechanical properties and on the required conformity to food-processing regulations, recycling in this segment is, according to the IKT, a big challenge. Now, through the reprocessing of the production waste and the PC chocolate moulds used in food production, a closed recycling loop is to be created. The project is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action as part of the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs.

Meanwhile, producers are also investing more in projects related to the recycling of polycarbonate: Trinseo (Berwyn, Pennsylvania, USA; www.trinseo.com), for example, inaugurated a pilot plant for the chemical recycling of polycarbonate in April 2023 at its Dutch site of Terneuzen.

Apart from that, Covestro (Leverkusen, Germany; www.covestro.com) also intends in the near future to build a facility of the kind.