New lease of life for waste PVC chlorinating aromatics

Waste PVC can be recycled into an easy-to-use chlorinating reagent, with electrolysis releasing chlorine from the polymer chain in a controlled manner. This process was then used to chlorinate aromatic compounds, transformations that are frequently used in the production of drugs.

PVC (poly(vinyl chloride)) is an extremely versatile plastic with applications ranging from construction to fashion. The high chlorine content makes it both durable and fire resistant, whilst plasticisers such as DEHP give the material flexibility. However, despite huge amounts of PVC being made every year it is widely considered the most hazardous plastic and is not usually recycled. Thermal processing degrades the polymer, releasing hydrochloric acid and other hazardous gases and many plasticising additives are carcinogenic, meaning the waste must be separated to avoid contaminating other processing streams.