PMMA (acrylic)

PMMA — acrylic — is the optically clearest commodity polymer: signage, glazing, light guides, automotive lamp covers, sanitary ware. Cast sheet and extruded sheet behave differently in recycling, and the trade separates them.

Clear PMMA offcuts are among the most valuable non-engineering scrap streams because clean acrylic can be depolymerised back to MMA monomer — genuine chemical recycling with commercial scale — or reprocessed into new sheet. That premium survives only with discipline: no PC or PS mixed in (they look identical to the untrained eye), no laminates, colour sorted. Key parameters: cast versus extruded, clarity/colour, source. Scrap classifies under HS 3915.90, primary forms 3906.10. Coloured and mixed acrylic trades at a step down into dark sheet and compounds. Enquiry-led in this corridor, priced on sample.