A report for the Nordic Council of Ministers assesses what actions are needed to ensure that hazardous substances in plastics do not obstruct safe recycling. The report identifies “Flame retardants” as one of ten groups of “hazardous” substances, and includes in annex a list of over 40 flame retardants, some which are clearly not hazardous (for example, amongst others, aluminium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide or poly[phosphonate-co-carbonate]). The report is based on a literature search, stakeholder interviews and workshop. It concludes that new legislation is not needed, but harmonisation and guidance for existing legislation, and recommends: avoidance of use of “hazardous” additives in plastics, better information and training of recyclers, traceability and labelling of plastics additives content, improving analysis of plastics going to recycling and a systematic approach to risk assessment of recycling.
“Hazardous substances in plastics – ways to increase recycling”, A. Stenmarck et al., IVL, IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet AB, CRI, SINTEF, VTT, Funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, report n° C233, ISBN 978-91-88319-51-7, April 2017 https://www.ivl.se/download/18.3016a17415acdd0b1f47cf/1491996565657/C233.pdf