English 
Lummus Technology そして 住友化学 have announced that their polymethyl methacrylate chemical recycling technology, known as PMMA CR, is now commercially available. This marks a key point in the partnership the two companies set up in May 2024. That partnership was focused on developing and commercializing technologies that support circularity and move the petrochemical industry closer to carbon neutrality.
Since the collaboration began, the two companies have taken PMMA CR from a development stage into full commercialization. The process has already been validated at a pilot plant operated by Sumitomo Chemical in Japan. That validation confirmed the technology is ready for real world deployment. The process allows end of life PMMA products to be chemically recycled back into high purity methyl methacrylate monomer, rather than being downcycled or discarded.
At the center of the technology is a depolymerization system jointly developed by The Japan Steel Works, Ltd. and Sumitomo Chemical. This system produces recycled MMA monomer with quality equivalent to MMA made from fossil based feedstocks. Because of this, the recycled monomer can be used directly in PMMA production without changes to downstream processes. Based on Sumitomo Chemical’s life cycle assessment approach, the process is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions across the product life cycle by about 50 percent compared with conventional fossil based routes. It also helps reduce plastic waste and reliance on virgin raw materials.
こちらもお読みください： 日米核融合エネルギー・パートナーシップは先端エネルギー革新の新たな勢いを示すもの
PMMA CR has several defining technical features. It can convert both post consumer and post industrial PMMA waste into circular MMA monomer with high yield and high purity. The depolymerization process uses a twin screw extruder together with a dedicated heating system. This setup allows precise temperature control and high thermal efficiency tailored specifically for PMMA recycling. The extruder is designed to be self cleaning, which supports continuous operation, improves equipment utilization, and simplifies day to day operation.
The system is modular and scalable. Capacity can be increased by adding parallel trains, and the technology is offered as modular ISBL packages. The recycled MMA produced is fully comparable to fossil based MMA. This enables true closed loop recycling of PMMA across applications in industries such as automotive, electronics, and construction.
With PMMA CR now available for licensing, Lummus そして 住友化学 are positioning themselves to support customers globally as they shift toward circular PMMA production. The companies say the technology is designed to fit into existing petrochemical value chains, helping improve resource efficiency while reducing environmental impact through high quality chemical recycling.
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