ReComp project aims at developing an innovative and sustainable process to separate and recover metals from metallized plastic using electrochemical methods. Chrome plated plastic scrap that is sorted out from the automotive industry is mostly composed of a plastic substrate such as ABS or PC/ABS, and a metal layer that contains mostly copper, nickel and chrome. The recycling of such composite material via chemical methods is difficulted by the presence of chrome.
In this work, an alternative method for the metal/plastic separation and the recovery of single metals is presented. The suggested process involves the electrochemical leaching of the metal coating at low potentials where the formation of toxic hexavalent chrome is avoided. The material separation and the selective recovery of single metals is carried out through techniques as electrochemical deposition, filtration, and precipitation. The electrochemical leaching takes place in a customized rotating drum electrode that serves as the anode, where the shredded material is fed. The environmental favorable methane sulfonic acid is used as electrolyte, and it is recirculated and recovered via distillation at the end stage of the process.
The   authors   acknowledge   the   financial support from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi)) for funding the project (funding reference: ZF4774501CM9) by Zentrale Innovationsprogramm Mittelstand (ZIM).