Energy-saving recycling of polyamides

Polyamides are tough materials with high strength and are mostly processed into synthetic fibers. Recently, they have increasingly been used for lightweight components in the automobile and electronics industry, with a rapidly growing production worldwide. Hence, it would be worthwhile developing an energy-saving recycling process for polyamides.

To do this, pure monomers from industrial synthetic fibers by means of so-called depolymerization must be recovered. With the donations from 2021, a research team from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg can now develop this process on a mini-plant scale in the institute's technical center.

By developing a chemical recycling process for polyamides, a sustainable circular economy could be established in order to drastically reduce the need for fossil raw materials for the production of monomers. On a long-term range, the project will provide the basis for tomorrow’s polyamide circular economy: a knowledge gain to the widest possible range of polyamides and other thermoplastics.