Investigation of the heterogeneity of bromine in plastic components as an indicator for brominated flame retardants in waste electrical and electronic equipment with regard to recyclability

Abstract Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) can contain brominated flame retardants (BFRs) that pose a threat to human health and the environment. In addition, Br-containing plastics reduce the recycling potential of WEEE. In order to gain a better insight into the distribution of Br in plastics from WEEE, the total concentration of Br was measured on the level of device types and plastic components using handheld X-ray fluorescence (hXRF). In 35 % of the sample size (882 components from 369 different devices, which originate from 6 device types) Br was detected, 5 % exceeded the RoHS limit. Only few and older devices contained high Br concentrations, while the majority were below the RoHS limit and could be recycled. In addition, 18 different plastic types were identified by infrared spectroscopy, with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene being the most abundant (44 % of all samples). Manual dismantling of devices into individual plastic components enabled us to examine Br hotspots and the variety of plastic types in WEEE. Based on this analytical procedure, WEEE recyclers could exclude certain equipment or plastic components (e.g. power supplies or PC housings) directly on-site prior to WEEE recycling and shredding in order to produce high-quality recycled products and avoid cross-contamination.