Bromine & the Circular Economy
Bromine-based technologies already contribute to sustainability and circularity . Bromine offers solutions to a wide range of environmental , social and economic needs , including water treatment , reducing mercury emissions , fire safety , energy storage and generation , pharmaceutical production and enhanced quality rubber . With respect to BFRs , their use in components and products prevents a major safety and environmental hazard , namely fire . This not only means a contribution to saving lives and preventing injuries , but also property damage . BFRs are mainly used in plastic polymers and resins . Plastics use and recycling is very much in the spotlight , with substantial pressure on the materials from policymakers and stakeholders who perceive the plastic waste problem as a global sustainability threat . At present , end-of-life plastics products containing BFRs can undergo several waste management treatment options , depending on the amount and composition of the waste stream , as well as on local conditions . Plastics with BFRs have excellent stability during recycling , which allows the recyclates to meet the same levels of fire safety as virgin material and maintains the value originally provided by FRs in the material . 3 Where BFRs are used reactively , such as in the fabrication of FR printed circuit boards , the treatment is driven by the desire to recover valuable precious metals and other metals . 4 In such treatment processes ( e . g . metal smelters ), the resin base of the circuit boards is consumed as energy . Where BFRs have been used additively – added to the polymer mix – the recycling of end-of-life plastics depends on the management of the products where these are used . For end-of-life vehicles to electrical and electronic products ( WEEE ), mechanical recycling is used to recover different technical plastics for reuse in new plastic parts and components . However , four BFR substances are restricted under REACH and RoHS or listed as persistent organic pollutants ( POPs ) under the Stockholm Convention . These are no longer allowed in new products , but are still present at very low concentrations in waste streams . In the EU , the WEEE Directive ( EU 2012 / 19 / EC ) requires the segregation and separate treatment of BFRcontaining plastics to ensure that restricted substances are removed from the material stream and destroyed or irreversibly transformed . The WEEE CEN Standards provide the basis for recyclers to achieve this and ensure that plastics being used again do not contain legacy BFRs . 4 When recycling is not possible for technical reasons , there is a range of waste management options , including advanced solid waste incineration and feedstock for cement kiln . Chemical recycling technologies like dissolution and pyrolysis are
Electronics – E & E applications are one of the major challenges when it comes to recycling
34 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981