Plastic is an essential material used throughout our daily lives. Among them, polycarbonate (PC) is widely applied across a broad range of products—including TVs, laptops, automotive headlamps and water purifier tanks—thanks to its outstanding heat resistance, impact strength, and transparency.

Recently, the European Union (EU) announced a new regulation called the End-of-Life Vehicle Regulation (ELVR). Under this regulation, 25% of the plastics used in vehicles must be  recycled plastics and 20% of that must specifically come from plastics recovered from end-of-life vehicles (ELVs).

This regulation is significant in that it clearly defines both the required share and the scope of recycled plastics usage. In particular, by mandating the direct use of plastics recovered from end-of-life vehicles, it is expected to rapidly increase demand for recycled plastics.

The challenge is that conventional recycling methods alone are insufficient to meet these requirements. Mechanical recycling—which involves shredding waste plastics for reuse can only be applied to materials with low contamination levels and consistent quality. However, plastics generated from end-of-life vehicles are often mixed with different materials or contaminated, which significantly limits their applicability.

For these reasons, a fundamentally different approach became necessary and LG Chem began searching for a more fundamental solution. This led the company to develop chemical recycling technology for polycarbonate (PC).

Technology That Returns Plastics Back to Pellets

The structure of plastics is often compared to a “necklace made of beads.” Just as a necklace is formed by stringing together numerous beads, the beads represent the basic building blocks of plastic—monomers—while the completed necklace represents the plastic in its polymer form.

Chemical recycling is a technology that completely unravels this old necklace and returns it back to individual beads. In other words, it restores discarded plastics to their original, clean feedstock state.

In the case of polycarbonate (PC), the “bead” unit is BPA (bisphenol A). The process of breaking down molecular bonds and reverting a material back to the feedstock stage is called depolymerization. Through an alcohol based depolymerization process, LG Chem has developed a technology that restores discarded PC back to BPA and transforms it into high- quality PC comparable to new, virgin grade material.

Through this process, the recovered BPA can achieve a purity of 99.9% or higher—comparable to conventional BPA—allowing recycled PC produced from recycled BPA to maintain equally high quality.

Turning Challenges to Results: LG Chem’s Technological Edge

LG Chem’s technology development began at a small scale and was gradually expanded to larger volumes. Starting with fundamental questions—such as “At what temperature does it decompose most effectively?” and “Which catalyst works best?”—the team conducted foundational experiments using small laboratory reactors to depolymerize discarded PC into BPA. After testing at the Daejeon Technology Institute, LG Chem scaled up to a mini pilot level that simulates actual mass production processes, validating process stability along the way.

As reactor size increases, the number of variables that must be controlled also grows. Conditions such as temperature and pressure, which are relatively easy to manage in small-scale laboratory equipment, become far more complex and require precise control at larger scales. With each new large scale facility, LG Chem had to identify and reestablish optimal operating conditions tailored to the specific characteristics of that system.

The process was far from easy, but through continuous experimentation and rigorous discussion, the team tackled the challenges one by one. Ultimately, they succeeded in recovering recycled BPA at a high purity of 99.9% or higher and completing process testing that lays the groundwork for commercialization.

Building on this technology, LG Chem has filed more than 30 patents, securing a strong competitive edge. In addition, leveraging a decade of experience in mechanical recycling and close collaboration with numerous partners, the company has established a robust supply chain capable of ensuring a stable supply of waste PC.

Responding to Global Customers’ Demand for Change

LG Chem has entered the basic engineering phase for the constructing a pilot facility aimed at commercialization. At this stage, the company’s goal is to secure high-quality recycled BPA from the pilot plant consistently, maintain the quality of recycled PC and validate a commercialization-level process that delivers both economic viability and operational efficiency.

Global companies are expanding the use of recycled materials in response to rapidly changing market dynamics and regulatory requirements. The automotive industry is accelerating the adoption of recycled materials to comply with European regulations, while IT companies are increasing the proportion of recycled plastics in their products. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors—where food contact regulations limit the use of mechanically recycled materials are showing growing interest in chemically recycled materials.

Chemical recycling technology for PC is a key solution that meets these evolving market and customer demands. By enabling discarded PC to be reused as new-grade PC and expanding applicability to materials that were previously difficult to recycle, it enables more flexible and efficient use of resources. This approach goes beyond recycling, simultaneously addressing both material quality and supply stability.

As global regulations continue to tighten, LG Chem’s technology is expanding the practical use of recycled materials and providing a foundation for more effective responses to industry-wide needs. Building on its PC chemical recycling technology, LG Chem will continue to advance material development that supports future structural changes across various industries.

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※ Some images in this content were generated using AI.