Occurrence and fate of antimony in plastics.

Antimony (Sb) is a technology critical element whose presence is ubiquitous in manufactured products, and in particular in plastics where it is used extensively as a flame retardant synergist for brominated compounds, as a catalyst for polyethylene terephthalate production, and as a pigment for colour. This study reviews the usage, regulations and fate of Sb in plastics by examining primary data on its production, applications, contents in and migration from manufactured objects, and presence in and release from waste, including the disposal and recycling routes for this material (i.e.

Proposal of concentration limits for determining the hazard property HP 14 for waste using ecotoxicological tests.

Different ecotoxicological test batteries and concentration limits have been proposed to assess the hazard property (HP) HP 14 'Ecotoxic' for waste in the European Union and its member states. In test batteries, if the concentration of waste in the culture/dilution medium producing 50% of inhibitory biological effect in one or more test(s) is below the concentration limit of the test, the waste is classified as hazardous. A summarized review of the test batteries proposed since 1998 is presented.

WEEE plastic sorting for bromine essential to enforce EU regulation.

The plastics of waste of electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) are improved for fire safety by flame retardants, and particularly brominated flame retardants (BFR). As waste, the management of these plastic fractions must comply with the update of the regulation of waste hazard classification (2014, 2017), the publication of a technical standard on management of WEEE (2015), and a restriction of use for decabromodiphenylether in the product regulation (2017). Data of bromine (n=4283) and BFR concentrations (n=98) in plastics from electric and electronic equipment (EEE), and from WEEE processing facilities before and after sorting for bromine in four sites in France have been studied for chemical composition and for regulatory classification.

Assessment of four calculation methods proposed by the EC for waste hazardous property HP 14 'Ecotoxic'.

Legislation published in December 2014 revised both the List of Waste (LoW) and amended Appendix III of the revised Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC; the latter redefined hazardous properties HP 1 to HP 13 and HP 15 but left the assessment of HP 14 unchanged to allow time for the Directorate General of the Environment of the European Commission to complete a study that is examining the impacts of four different calculation methods for the assessment of HP 14. This paper is a contribution to the assessment of the four calculation methods. It also includes the results of a fifth calculation method; referred to as "Method 2 with extended M-factors".