How does legislation on recycling impact flows of legacy substances?

In course of shifting from quantity to quality recycling in Europe, legislation posing limits on hazardous substances in materials intended for recycling has been continuously developed. In the spotlight are “legacy”... [ view full abstract ]

In course of shifting from quantity to quality recycling in Europe, legislation posing limits on hazardous substances in materials intended for recycling has been continuously developed. In the spotlight are “legacy” substances that were found to be harmful for humans and the environment because of their properties like persistence, toxicity for water- and other organisms, toxicity for reproduction, and carcinogenicity. Many of these substances are no longer produced but they are still contained in consumer products and wastes, sometimes in high quantities. Legacy substances will continue to appear in waste streams for years to come because of the long life span of some materials, for example in the construction sector. The main concern is their reappearance in consumer products made from recycled materials.

In this paper, we give an in-depth overview of current legislation for the recycling of key organic legacy substances on European Union and national (in Europe) levels. Two case studies are presented. In the first case study, flows of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in excavated asphalt were determined in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland, using the method of substance flow analysis (SFA), firstly before the last amendment of the Swiss Technical Ordinance on Waste and secondly after the amended ordinance will have entered into force. In the second case study, we compared flows of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) in the European PVC industry in 2012 and after the authorization for recycling of soft PVC up to 20% DEHP in the recycling product was granted to three biggest European soft PVC recyclers under REACH (2016).

Results of the case studies demonstrate how legislative limits in recycling affect flows of two legacy substances. The concept of applying SFA for pre- and post- legislation can be particularly useful in the field of plastics recycling as well as in any field of industrial recycling, where some legislation exists. In cases where no legislation is in place or is not discussed yet, the SFA in combination with scenario analysis on 0.1%, 1%, 10% basis can be used. Legislation may be derived based on the results of analyses such as this one in combination with other analyses (in particular risk assessment). New legislation derived this way will be backed by a solid scientific base.