Patent ID: 7525010

Claim:
A process of washing plastics contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to reduce the concentration of the PCBs comprising: performing a first washing step using a selected washing solution or solvent for providing washed plastics; said first washing step being provided at ambient pressure, and being provided for a selected time period based upon types and levels of contamination on the plastics being cleaned; and said first washing step providing effective removal of oils, grease and dirt, and PCBs present in the oils, grease and dirt, and performing a second thermal desorption step for desorbing adsorbed PCBs from the washed plastics; said second thermal desorption step being provided at a predefined temperature near approximately 250° C., said predefined temperature being provided below a temperature causing degradation of properties of a plastic material of the plastics being cleaned; and the concentration of the PCBs being reduced to less than 2 ppm.