Enhancement of recycling system for large WEEE plastics in Korea via material flow analysis (MFA) and hazardous substances assessment

Abstract

Globally, there is interest in recycling waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) plastics for transition to circular resource society and concern about substances with potential harzard in WEEE. For high-quality recycling of WEEE plastics, it is necessary to find factors that hinder recycling of the entire life of plastics and investigate hazardous substances for recycling safety. In this study, through conducting material flow analysis(MFA), 27 kt of WEEE was collected and only 3.9 % of the production was returned to plastic recycling market. To resolve this gap, further research by related organizations, including updating statistical data on the plastics, is required in addition to consideration for converting unofficial routes into official routes. For the activation of the secondary material recycling market, strict quality control is required, because some samples contained relatively high levels of PBDEs DEHP restricted under law. And it is necessary to monitor of unrestricted substance, TBBPA and Bisphenol A detected at high concentration in WEEE plastic, for the safe recycling of plastic waste.