Green and inexpensive method to recover Bisphenol-A from polycarbonate wastes

Hydroglycolysis of polycarbonate waste from used compact discs was developed to recover Bisphenol-A (BPA) as a valuable material. Experiments were done in glycerin and water as an alternative green solvent. The effect of solvent ratios has been studied to evaluate BPA recovery. The use of 30% aqueous glycerin (pbw) led to 93 and 100% of BPA at reflux condition within 1.0 and 5.5 hours, respectively. Recovered BPAs were identified by spectroscopy methods and the results were compared with commercial sample data.