FLAME RETARDANTS | RECYCLING
Average levels of various brominated flame retardants in WEEE plastic (ppm) for 2015-17 period compared to 2010
Source: BSEF
recycling industry do not support this”, said Bradley. “Yes, BFR-containing plastics do have to be separated and treated separately under the EU WEEE Directive, but this is being well managed by innovative plastics and polymer recyclers”, he said. BSEF has lodged formal proceedings against
the European Commission in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Bradley hopes for a hearing during Q1 2021, with a possible ruling before the end of Q2.
WEEE misconceptions Meanwhile, the association released a comprehen- sive 46-page report last month covering WEEE plastics flows and recycling efforts in Europe. It says the report, undertaken by the SOFIES sustainability consultancy, “addresses misperceptions regarding the impact of Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs) on WEEE plastics recycling and presents the successes and overarching challenges in making WEEE plastic streams more circular.” The report says approximately 2.6m tonnes of WEEE plastics are generated annually in Europe; plastics containing BFRs represent about 9% of this total. It also shows that already-restricted BFRs are a rapidly declining component of the total BFRs in WEEE plastics, which Bradley attributes to the effectiveness of RoHS restrictions (the use of Octa-BDE has been restricted in Europe since 2003 and Deca-BDE since 2008). “Policy makers need to focus on the core issues
here, namely the substantial volume of WEEE plastics which is leaking out of Europe and treated in a sub-standard way, as well as looking for solutions to recycling more of the high additive fraction of WEEE plastics,” Bradley says. According to the report, around half of all WEEE plastics generated in Europe does not enter official WEEE collection channels, ending up instead in the
36 COMPOUNDING WORLD | December 2020
waste bin, processed at substandard recycling facilities, or exported outside Europe. On average, 55% of WEEE plastics entering specialised WEEE plastic recycling facilities are effectively recycled, meaning converted into PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled) plastics that can be used in the manufac- ture of new plastics products. The report finds that the presence of BFRs in WEEE plastics does not reduce recycling yields more than other FRs as FR-containing plastics — as well as plastics containing other additives such as fillers in significant loadings — are sorted out during conventional density-based recycling processes.
Recycler suppport The report’s findings are supported by EERA, the European Electronics Recyclers Association. “The WEEE recycling industry has learned perfectly well how to deal with brominated flame retardants,” the association says. “REACH, RoHS and POP Regulation-compliant post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics can be produced from the complex mix of WEEE plastics and these can be re-used in new appliances. The problems related to restricted legacy BFRs, as this study is clearly showing, are disappearing quickly,” according to EERA. However, EERA cautions that progress achieved
to date will not be helped by further reduced thresholds for restricted BFRs. “The WEEE Directive requires us to separate all BFRs whether restricted or not. We rely on screening the element bromine to achieve this cost-effectively. However, we are now screening out more useful plastics with non-restricted BFRs than legacy BFRs.”
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.bsef.com �
www.eera-recyclers.com
www.compoundingworld.com
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