giffino.gif (43 bytes)
giffino.gif (43 bytes)
giffino.gif (43 bytes)
giffino.gif (43 bytes)
  Haloclean > Contaminants
giffino.gif (43 bytes) giffino.gif (43 bytes)

 

 

      EEE

     Contaminants

     Project Aim

     Partners

     Ref's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because of their hazardous content, electrical and electronic equipment cause major environmental problems during the waste management phase if not properly pre-treated. As more than 90% of Waste Electrical and Electronical Equipment (WEEE) is land filled, incinerated or recovered without any pre-treatment, a large proportion of various pollutants found in the municipal waste stream.
Ref 's
The proposed Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment will contribute to the protection of human health and the environment. The principal objectives of this proposal are to protect soil, water and air from pollution caused by current management of WEEE, to avoid the generation of waste, which has to be disposed of and to reduce the harmfulness of WEEE.

1. Incineration of WEEE

The emission from waste incineration account for 36 tonnes per year of mercury and 16 tonnes per year of cadmium in the Community.
Ref 's
Furthermore, the incineration of non-hazardous waste has been identified as the largest source of emission of dioxins and furans to air in Europe
Ref 's

The WEEE stream contributes significantly to the heavy metals and halogenated substances contained in the municipal waste stream. In addition, specific adverse effects could occur during incineration due to the variety of different substances found together in WEEE. Copper works like a catalyst, thereby increasing the risk of formation of dioxins when flame retardants are incinerated. This is of a particular concern as the incineration of brominated flame retardants at a low temperature (600-800°C) may lead to the generation of extremely toxic polybrominated dibenzo dioxins (PBDDs) and polybrominated dibenzo furans (PBDFs).
Ref 's
The proposal for a Council Directive on the incineration of waste from 7 October 1998 provides for stringent emission limit values, which should lead to a significant reduction of emissions of various pollutants into atmosphere

Separate collection and treatment of waste streams (such as WEEE) contributes to a cleaner municipal waste stream and thereby a reduction in the emission caused by the incineration or the smelting of WEEE containing heavy metals and halogenated substances.
There is substantial evidence supporting the view that PVC is not suitable for incineration, particularly in view of the quantity and the hazardous nature of the flue gas residues resulting from incineration
Ref 's
The introduction of several WEEE into incinerators results in high concentrations of metals, including heavy metals, in the slag, in the flue gas or in the filter cake, with further consequences for post processing or use.
Ref 's

Landfilling of WEEE

The risk relating to the landfilling of WEEE is due to the variety of substances contained in WEEE. The main problems in this context are the leaching and evaporation of hazardous substances. Leaching of mercury takes place when certain electronic devices, such as circuit breakers, are destroyed. The same is true for PCBs from condensers. When brominated flame retarded plastic or cadmium may leach into the soil and groundwater. The vaporisation of metallic mercury and dimethylene mercury, both part of WEEE, is also of concern. In addition, uncontrolled fires may arise at the landfills. In such fires, both metals and other chemical, such as the extremely toxic dioxins and furans including tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD) and polychlorinated and polybrominated dioxins and furans (PCDDs, PBDDs and PCDFs) from halogenated flame retardant products and PCB containing condensers may be emitted.

Losses of plasticizers, especially phthalates, from the landfilling of PVC are widely recognised and can have potential effect on the human health and the environment.
Ref 's

Extrusion

Halogenated substances contained in WEEE, in particular brominated flame retardants, are also of concern during the extrusion of plastics, which is part of plastic recycling .
Ref 's
Due to the risk of generating dioxins and furans, recyclers usually abstain from recycling flame retarded plastic from WEEE.
Ref 's
In view of the lack of proper identification of plastic containing flame retardants and the inherent difficulty in distinguishing flame retardant plastic from ordinary plastic, most recyclers do not process any plastic from WEEE.
Ref 's

Shredding

Hazardous emission to the air also results from the recycling of WEEE containing heavy metals, such as lead and cadmium. As WEEE is in most cases shredded without proper disassembly, hazardous substances, such as PCB’s contained in capacitors, may be dispersed into the recovered metals and the shredder waste. Shredder waste has a high concentration of lead, ranging from 940 to 9,400 mg/kg. Around 95% of the PCB contained in capacitors (617,5 mg/kg) end up in the shredder dust. Therefore, the contaminated shredder has to be dealt with as dangerous waste. Compared to the incineration of ordinary wastes the incineration of dangerous waste is an expensive process. As a consequent the PCB contamination of shredder waste entails an enormous increase in costs.