As plastic waste is still remaining a challenge for the waste management sector further technological means have to be researched. In order to achieve set political and global goals, the recycling of plastic material has to be improved. In this study the degradation in Polyethylene and Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene was assessed. With the use of infrared measurement technology,it was possible to assess the state of polymer degradation after a thermos-oxidative treatment. With the analysed data, a PLS model was derived and used to estimate the extent of degradation in unknown samples. Infrared spectroscopy may be considered an effective tool to investigate polymer degradation.