Patent ID: 7135546

Claim:
A process for recycling an article comprising at least one of vinyl chloride polymer and vinylidene chloride polymer, according to which: (a) the article is cut up into fragments with a mean size of 1 cm to 50 cm in the case where it exceeds these sizes; (b) the fragments are brought into contact with an azeotropic or quasiazeotropic mixture of water and of a solvent capable of dissolving the polymer, at a temperature of at least 120° C. to dissolve the polymer in the solvent; (c) the polymer dissolved in the solvent is precipitated by a reduction in pressure and by injection of steam into the solution of polymer dissolved in the solvent, which additionally results in the entrainment of the solvent-water azeotrope and leaves a mixture remaining which is essentially composed of water and of solid polymer particles; (d) the polymer particles are collected.