Solvent-based recycling of PC and ABS from e-waste: Efficiency, economics, emissions reduction, and job opportunities

The acceleration of the replacement of electronic products results in large amounts of electronic waste (e-waste). This stream of waste has become one of the most pressing global issues. Traditional methods such as landfilling and incineration are insufficient for addressing the challenges of mixed plastics in e-waste. While solvent-based recycling has emerged as a promising solution for high-purity separation and additive removal, previous studies often employed toxic solvents and lacked comprehensive techno-economic analysis. To address these research gaps, this study developed a novel DCM/EtOH-based method for separating and recycling PC/ABS mixtures from real-world e-waste streams. The process achieved 88 % PC recovery (purity range: 80-89 %) and 104 % ABS recovery (purity range: 89-92 %) via fractional dissolution, while successfully removing organic phosphorus flame retardants. Economic analysis revealed that recycling one ton of e-waste plastics using this method generates 766 USD net profit. This is attributed to 91 % energy savings and 10.2 tons of CO₂ emissions reduction. Additionally, under the conditions of the Chinese labor market, this process can create 270,000 job opportunities by recycling 12 million tons of domestically generated e-waste annually. These findings demonstrate the technical feasibility and economic competitiveness of the proposed method, offering a sustainable solution for e-waste plastic management. Future research should focus on solvent recovery optimization and large-scale pilot validation.