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Text Menno Timmer Illustration Michel van de Boogaard

Flame retardants are not a problem for recycling Harmonisation of the EU legislation on

waste and REACH/POPs is needed

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The purpose of the REACH/POPs regulations is to pre-vent chemical substances and certain flame-retardant plastics that contain POPs from entering the environ-ment during their production and use. But what hap-pens if these products are delivered to ARN, for example, for recycling at the end of their useful life? To what extent does this legislation hamper efforts to meet the European target for recycling and hence conflict with the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive. And to what extent do the REACH and POPs regulations prevent innovation in the recycling chain?

Lein Tange, who is Product Stewardship Manager at ICL Industrial Products, one of the world’s largest pro-ducers of flame retardants and which has a production facility in Terneuzen, describes both regulations as extremely complex, both for producers and for the recy-cling industry.

Stricter standardsThe main reason for this is that the REACH/POPs cri-teria are constantly changing and the standards are becoming increasingly strict. “Take the production of cars. Car manufacturers are obliged to continue supply-ing spare parts for a car many years after the model is no longer being produced. In practice, this can mean that a spare part to be delivered today for, let’s say, a 1990 Honda Civic, has to comply with different production requirements than when that Civic first came off the conveyor belt. This presents the automotive industry with an almost impossible challenge.”The problem is no less complicated for the recycling chain, he says. On the one hand, there are the regular waste flows and, on the other, there are residual frac-tions that remain after the recycling process, which can in turn be used as raw materials for new products. In that context, there are times when the recycling of cars

European legislation governing the safe use of chemical substances (REACH) and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in flame-retardant plastics does not have to stand in the way of efforts to meet recycling targets in general, and those of ARN in particular. The rules must, however, be reasonable and workable, says Lein Tange, who, as the official responsible for end-of-life activities at the European Flame Retardants Association (EFRA), a sector group within the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) was able, in close consultation with the Dutch and European recycling industry, to block a totally unrealistic EU proposal. A more practical proposal is currently being drafted.

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‘REACH could undermine the objectives of the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive’

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95 autumn 2015 - p37

does not fall under REACH/POPs but under the waste legislation, but as soon as a customer wishes to make new products from secondary raw materials from the PST plant, the REACH/POPs legislation suddenly does apply.

Waste is not subject to REACH rulesMarcel van der Veer, the Quality and the Environment manager at ARN Recycling, explains that producers and importers of chemical substances are obliged by the REACH regulation to register those substances. And during the registration process, they are required to say whether a substance is harmful. The European Chemi-cals Agency (ECHA) evaluates every substance that is registered and, together with the member states, decides whether to authorise the use of those chemical sub-stances.Waste does not fall under REACH, Van der Veer stresses. “Waste it not a substance, a mixture or an object in the context of REACH. Companies that pro-cess waste are therefore not bound by the REACH rules, but if the processing of waste results in the pro-duction of other chemical substances, mixtures or objects, the provisions of REACH do apply to them.”He gives the example of a fibre fraction produced by ARN Recycling whose materials can be compressed. “The fibre production and the quality of the fibre frac-tion are not covered by REACH, but materials pro-duced from that fraction are. ARN and the customer therefore have to investigate the possible consequences for the new product and decide whether a file has to be compiled for the purposes of registration for the pur-poses of REACH.”An important element of the REACH Regulation is that producers must keep the user informed of the instructions for the safe use of the substance or the product. “Although waste does not fall under REACH, ARN does produce a Safety Information Sheet for its end fractions containing all of the information required for their safe use, storage and disposal.”

Transitional arrangement“REACH,” Van der Veer continues, “can also conflict with the objectives of the End-of-Life Vehicles Direc-tive, which lays down requirements for the recycling and recovery of materials released during the processing of end-of-life cars.” For example, 95% of an end-of-life car has to be recycled, of which 85% has to be achieved in the form of re-use of materials. Van der Veer: “ARN Recycling ensures that the last few percent of the mate-

rial in a car can be re-used. REACH could potentially prohibit the use of a substance present in an end frac-tion. That fraction cannot then be used as a secondary raw material for the production of another substance or product and that could compromise the subsidiary tar-get of re-using 85% of the materials recovered from end-of-life cars. Although that has not happened up to now, it could occur in the future.”Although Van der Veer endorses the objectives of REACH, he and ARN Recycling are passionate advo-cates of a transitional arrangement for the processing of secondary raw materials in products in order to address the problems mentioned above. Such an arrangement could, he feels, be similar to Article 4 of the POP Reg-ulation (Regulation EC 850/2004), which provides an exemption for POPs that were already present in prod-ucts before the POP Regulation entered into force.

PPM limit valuesWith regard to flame-retardant plastics, which are designed to provide maximum fire safety for passengers of cars, the POP Regulation makes a distinction between two categories: POPs above a particular limit value and POPs below a particular limit value. At pres-ent, waste with a POP content below the limit value can be recycled. At present, because preparations are under-way to introduce new limit values in the legislation for POP HBCD, a substance that can be found in 90% to 95% of all insulating materials. It is also found in small quantities in flame-retardant foam used for acoustic insulation in cars and in the floor mats and the spare-tyre holder. Furthermore, the stricter requirements for POPs above the threshold limit value apply for the pro-cessing of residual fractions into new products.

Accurate lab measurements“The difficult thing about POPs,” Tange goes on, “is that the requirements can be so strict that the standard can already be exceeded with a quantity that is no greater than the smallest amount that can be analysed u

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in a laboratory. Consequently, any relative error in the lab’s findings can immediately indicate that the standard has been exceeded. Because the measurements in the lab are conducted on earth, such as sand and clay, rather than waste, which is a far less homogeneous material. When the requirements are so strict, it makes the analysis of parts of the waste even more complex and expensive and imposes an unnecessarily high burden on the recycling industry.” Tange qualifies the problems associated with POPs by pointing out that a cubic metre of insulating material (30 kilos), for example, contains only 1%, or 300 grams, of HBCD. By comparison, a car contains an average of 200 to 400 kilos of plastic, in which there is a maximum of 15 grams of POP HBCD.

Van der Veer adds that there are not even any standards for determining the POPs content in specific shredder waste. “This means that at present it is only possible to measure POPs on the basis of a standard geared to materials such as rubble, sludge or earth. The matrix can lead to discrep-ancies in the results, in both a positive and a negative sense, although I do not feel they run into the thousands of parts per million (ppm). ARN Recycling itself uses ISO standards based on earth and rubble, but also carefully considers whether the chemicals to be used are fit for purpose.” Asking an external agency to develop a standard specifically geared to shredder waste is a lengthy and expensive process.

Dead endTange: “With regard to recycling and POPs, Dutch industry takes the position that re-using plastics that contain POPs should be avoided as far as possible. After all, we do not want these substances to enter the envi-

ronment again. But, naturally, industry also does not want an end to recycling. It is therefore necessary to find the right balance, and that means separating the different plastics as far as possible. The problem is that there is no economically viable method of separating them into totally pure fractions. It is impossible to prevent minimal quantities of POPs from remaining in the plastics to be recycled during the process.”In Tange’s view, the industry can in practice function perfectly well with a POP limit of 0.1 %. A stricter limit is a ‘no go’, he feels, since it would be a dead end for both the recycling sector and the environment, particu-larly in view of the trend towards a more ‘circular economy’ as recom-mended by the European Commission. In that context, Tange says he is proud that, thanks to the efforts of the recycling industry and the Dutch government, the EU proposal that was based on 10 ppm, which is effec-tively 0.001%, could be blocked, since it would have brought the recy-cling of plastics to a halt in the Netherlands and in the rest of Europe.

Alternative proposalIn the context of the Basel Convention, which lays down the technical guidelines and the limits for concentrations of POPs in plastics, a discus-sion is now underway about the maximum concentration of POPs that may be present in waste intended for recycling. Meanwhile, the European Flame Retardants Association (EFRA), which forms the link between the industry, the European governments and the EU legislation, is preparing an alternative proposal. As EFRA’s represent-ative for its end-of-life activities, Tange is working closely on that pro-posal with the Dutch recycling industry (including ARN) and the sector that includes the waste incineration plants.

In principle, waste does not have to comply with the REACH and POPs regulations. The situation changes, however, if end fractions from the PST plant are to be re-used as raw materials for a new pro-duct, for example. In that case, ARN Recycling’s customers, such as Galloo Plastics or Advanced Recycling Solutions (ARS), might be

covered by this legislation, which could restrict the recycling of waste as a raw material. There have therefore already been calls in the employers’ organisation VNO-NCW for relaxation of the rules on waste in the interests of the circular economy, since, it is argued, the current rules are needlessly strict and counter-productive.

REACH/POP’s and ARN Recycling

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Objections of the recycling industryIn the middle of this year the recycling industry had to say whether it had any objections to limits lower than 1,000 ppm (0.1%). “There were major objections,” says ARN’s Marcel van der Veer, “because the yields from recycled waste flows would shrink even further with that overly strict limit. Furthermore, the costs would rise disproportionately, since the volume to be recycled would decline and the non-recyclable residue would have to be incinerated. In addition, the EU proposal is totally at odds with the European target of recycling at least 95% of end-of-life cars. With a standard of 1,000 ppm and the fact that the volume of plastics in cars is growing rapidly, it would be even more difficult, and hence more expensive, to meet that target.”Nevertheless, Tange is optimistic about the further development of the REACH/POPs legislation and the consequences for the recycling indus-try. He argues that POPs are not a problem for the sector, provided everyone is aware of which products plastics that contain POPs are used in and where they are. ”Together with ARN and the Dutch government, we are going to investigate which products contain the various flame

retardants and whether they pose a risk. Finally, greater harmonisation of the European legislation on waste and the REACH/POPs legislation is needed. Ultimately, what is needed is a solution that is reasonable and workable.” t

REACH stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation (and Restriction) of Chemical Substances. The regulation lays down the rules that companies and governments must follow in relation to chemical substances. The principal objective of REACH is to guar-antee a high level of safety for people and the environment during the production and use of substances.With REACH, the burden of proving that (chemical) substances that are produced, brought onto the market and used are safe has been shifted from the government to the business sector.Since 1 June 2008, producers (manufacturers or importers, the legal entity that first brings a product onto the European market) have been obliged to register substances, preparations and their appli-cations unless they have followed the pre-registration procedure. The producer is obliged to ensure that its customers are informed about the composition, risks, use etc. of its products. In principle, substances and preparations that are not registered may not be used in the EU.

The automotive industry acknowledged the importance of REACH early on. A REACH Task Force was established at the initiative of

ACEA (the umbrella organisation of the European automotive industry), and in 2007 and 2008 the industry drew up an ‘Automo-tive Industry Guideline on REACH’ to help companies worldwide with the implementation of REACH in their operations. Version 3.1 of the guideline was launched in the summer of 2012.

The POPs Regulation relates to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which are, briefly, substances that are non-biodegradable, can accumulate in organisms (bio-accumulating) and are toxic for humans and the ecosystem. This EU Regulation (850/2004) is derived from the United Nations’ Stockholm Convention and the UNECE protocol, with the aim of removing POPs from society. However, the Stockholm Convention and the EU’s POP Regula-tion both include an exemption for the recycling of so-called POP BDEs (a plastic that is used in East European and American cars) until 2030. The exemption is reviewed every four years and the next review is scheduled for 2017. This means that ARN may recycle plastic with a POP BDE content of up to 0.1%, as well as POP HBCDs, although no limit values have yet been fixed for the latter category.

The European legislation on hazardous substances: REACH and POP’s

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