Meeting Premium Automotive Lighting Requirements with Circular Polymers: Recycling Challenges and Material Solutions in the NALYSES Project

The NALYSES project investigates the specific challenges of recycling plastics from automotive headlights. This research paper analyses the fundamental difficulties in the sorting of shredded headlight systems, the effects of material degradation on optical properties and the challenges of removing coatings. The results show that for high-quality optical components in automotive lighting, chemical recycling and its derived products are the most promising approaches to achieve the required quality standards in terms of transmission and optical purity. While adequately processed mechanical recyclates (e.g. Makrolon® R) are certainly suitable for demanding automotive applications, the specific optical requirements in lighting technology pose a special technical challenge that requires specialized consideration (e.g. Makrolon® RE or Makrolon® RP).