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Trinseo has started up a pilot polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) depolymerization plant in Rho, Italy. This opening represents a significant step forward in the company’s commitment to sustainability, as the next-generation recycling technology helps advance a circular infrastructure for acrylic solutions and is aligned with Trinseo’s 20230 Sustainable Product Portfolio Goals.

Depolymerization is a chemical recycling process that returns acrylic solutions to the constituent monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). Complementary to other recycling technologies, depolymerization helps close the loop for acrylic recycling with several advantages over traditional processes. By utilizing this technology, acrylic solutions can be recycled — including PMMA sheets, which previously could not be mechanically recycled. In addition, returning the material to its monomer form is said to enable additives and contaminants to be removed from pre-consumer and postconsumer acrylic products. This enables more PMMA to be recycled.

Trinseo’s PMMA depolymerization facility delivers a next-generation technology, utilizing an advanced continuous process to produce high-purity regenerated MMA from pre-consumer and postconsumer acrylic solutions. Trinseo’s depolymerization technology leverages findings from the MMAtwo Consortium, a collaborative initiative funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, to develop a new value chain for pre-consumer and postconsumer PMMA, and a versatile recycling process for converting this waste into high-quality regenerated monomer with carbon footprint reduction versus virgin MMA. The recycled MMA (rMMA) generated by Trinseo’s depolymerization facility is utilized in the company’s Altuglas and Plexiglas R-Life product portfolios. Through this new facility, Trinseo can produce rMMA which is said to be comparable to virgin raw materials. This enables use in high-demand applications, such as vehicle taillights or caravan windows that require high optical quality.