To provide a method for obtaining an aromatic dihydroxy compound from a waste aromatic polycarbonate, by which the waste aromatic polycarbonate (for example, an aromatic polycarbonate product such as waste CD, CD-ROM or DVD) can massively be treated at a low cost to obtain the highly pure aromatic dihydroxy compound.

The method for obtaining the aromatic dihydroxy compound from the waste aromatic polycarbonate comprises (A) a process ((a) process) for subjecting the waste aromatic polycarbonate to a decomposition reaction comprising an ester interchange reaction in the presence of a 1 to 4C alcohol, a chlorinated compound organic solvent and a metal hydroxide, (B) a process ((b) process) for adding an acid aqueous solution to the reaction solution after the decomposition reaction to divide into an organic solvent phase and an aqueous solution phase and then recovering the organic solvent phase, (C) a process ((c) process) for separating the organic solvent, a dialkyl carbonate, and an aromatic dihydroxy compound from the organic solvent phase by distillation to obtain the aromatic dihydroxy compound, and (D) a process ((d) process) for washing the obtained aromatic dihydroxy compound with the chlorinated compound organic solvent and/or water.

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