End-of-life and regulatory issues for flame retardant plastics used in electrical and electronic equipment applications

Various brominated and phosphorus flame retardants are used in many electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) applications. The use of flame retardants in these applications delays the spread of fires or delays the time of flashover, hence saving lives and property. An estimated 190 lives are saved annually through the use of flame retardants in television cabinets in the US. With the use of flame retardants come questions related to risk in use and end-of-life options for plastics containing these materials. European Risk Assessment for several flame retardants is now in progress. Research has been ongoing to study various end-of-life options, such as recycle, feedstock recovery, and waste-to-energy recovery (incineration). This paper is a continuation of previous papers that address issues related to end-of-life, risk in use, and benefits of plastics containing flame retardants. An update of the current results of the European Risk Assessments is included Results of recent research aimed at determining the recyclability of plastics containing flame retardants under a variety of conditions are included The conclusions of these evaluations show the benefits in terms of fire safety and end-of-life options for EEE containing flame retardant resins.