Chemical recycling of polymers from Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment

Enhancing Polymer Sustainability: Eco-Conscious Strategies

Polymer sustainability is a pressing concern in today's world driven by the increasing demand for environmentally friendly materials. This review paper provides a comprehensive overview of eco-friendly approaches towards enhancing the sustainability of polymers. It synthesized recent research and developments in various areas such as green polymer synthesis methods, biodegradable polymers, recycling technologies, and emerging sustainable alternatives. The environmental impact of traditional polymer production processes and the importance of adopting greener alternatives were critically examined. The review delved into the advancements in polymer recycling technologies like mechanical, chemical, and biological processes aimed at minimizing plastic waste and promoting a circular economy. The innovative approaches such as upcycling, hybrid methods etc., which offer promising solutions for addressing plastic pollution and achieving long-term sustainability goals were also analyzed. Finally, the paper discussed the challenges and future prospects of eco-friendly approaches for polymer sustainability, emphasizing the need for researchers and concerted efforts from scientists across industries and academia to drive meaningful change towards a more sustainable future.

Recycling of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene from Electronic Waste for the Production of Eco-Friendly Filaments for 3D Printing

In this work, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) copolymer from electronic waste (e-waste) was used to produce filaments for application in 3D printing. Recycled ABS (rABS) from e-waste was blended with virgin ABS (vABS) in different concentrations. By differential scanning calorimetry, it was observed that the values of the glass transition temperatures for vABS/rABS blends ranged between the values of vABS and rABS. Torque rheometry analysis showed that the processability of vABS was not compromised with the addition of rABS. Rheological measurements showed that the viscosity of vABS was higher than that of rABS at low frequencies and indicated that vABS and rABS are immiscible. Impact strength (IS) tests of the 3D printed samples showed an increase in the IS with an increase in the rABS content up to 50 wt%. Blending vABS with rABS from e-waste is promising and proved to be feasible, making it possible to recycle a considerable amount of plastics from e-waste and, thus, contributing to the preservation of the environment.

Review and Assessment of Existing and Future Techniques for Traceability with Particular Focus on Applicability to ABS Plastics

It is generally recognized that the use of physical and digital information-based solutions for tracking plastic materials along a value chain can favour the transition to a circular economy and help to overcome obstacles. In the near future, traceability and information exchange between all actors in the value chain of the plastics industry will be crucial to establishing more effective recycling systems. Recycling plastics is a complex process that is particularly complicated in the case of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic because of its versatility and use in many applications. This literature study is part of a larger EU-funded project with the acronym ABSolEU (Paving the way for an ABS recycling revolution in the EU). One of its goals is to propose a suitable traceability system for ABS products through physical marking with a digital connection to a suitable data-management system to facilitate the circular use of ABS. The aim of this paper is therefore to review and assess the current and future techniques for traceability with a particular focus on their use for ABS plastics as a basis for this proposal. The scientific literature and initiatives are discussed within three technological areas, viz., labelling and traceability systems currently in use, digital data sharing systems and physical marking. The first section includes some examples of systems used commonly today. For data sharing, three digital technologies are discussed, viz., Digital Product Passports, blockchain solutions and certification systems, which identify a product through information that is attached to it and store, share and analyse data throughout the product's life cycle. Finally, several different methods for physical marking are described and evaluated, including different labels on a product's surface and the addition of a specific material to a polymer matrix that can be identified at any point in time with the use of a special light source or device. The conclusion from this study is that the most promising data management technology for the near future is blockchain technology, which could be shared by all ABS products. Regarding physical marking, producers must evaluate different options for individual products, using the most appropriate and economical technology for each specific product. It is also important to evaluate what information should be attached to a specific product to meet the needs of all actors in the value chain.

Ionic-Liquid-Mediated Deconstruction of Polymers for Advanced Recycling and Upcycling

Ionic liquids (ILs) are a promising medium to assist in the advanced (chemical and biological) recycling of polymers, owing to their tunable catalytic activity, tailorable chemical functionality, low vapor pressures, and thermal stability. These unique physicochemical properties, combined with ILs' capacity to solubilize plastics waste and biopolymers, offer routes to deconstruct polymers at reduced temperatures (and lower energy inputs) versus conventional bulk and solvent-based methods, while also minimizing unwanted side reactions. In this Viewpoint, we discuss the use of ILs as catalysts and mediators in advanced recycling, with an emphasis on chemical recycling, by examining the interplay between IL chemistry and deconstruction thermodynamics, deconstruction kinetics, IL recovery, and product recovery. We also consider several potential environmental benefits and concerns associated with employing ILs for advanced recycling over bulk- or solvent-mediated deconstruction techniques, such as reduced chemical escape by volatilization, decreased energy demands, toxicity, and environmental persistence. By analyzing IL-mediated polymer deconstruction across a breadth of macromolecular systems, we identify recent innovations, current challenges, and future opportunities in IL application toward circular polymer economies.

A Green Approach for Recycling Compact Discs

Compact discs (CDs) and digital versatile discs (DVDs) are mainly made by polycarbonate disc, a thin layer of aluminum or silver, a thin layer of a coating and a thin layer of a label of paper or PET. The recycling of these discs is difficult due to the removal of these non-polymeric layers and to our best knowledge, no industrial plants have been resent for their recycling. In this work, we propose a facile way to remove the non-polymeric layers and investigate the effect of the repetitive extrusion process on the processability and on the mechanical properties of the recycled polycarbonate. A few works have been published dealing with both the removal of the non-polymeric layers and the mechanical recycling of the disk of polycarbonate. In our approach, the removal of the non-polymeric layers is easily obtained through a thermo-mechanical treatment in a basic solution by ammonia. This process can be considered green because is made at a low temperature with a small amount of water and a very small amount of ammonia, saving energy and water. The properties of the polycarbonate remain good if the mechanical recycling is made after drying the post-consumer polycarbonate.

Plastics in the environment as potential threat to life: an overview

Plastics have become inevitable for human beings in their daily life. Million tons of plastic waste is entering in oceans, soil, freshwater, and sediments. Invasion of plastics in different ecosystems is causing severe problems to inhabitants. Wild animals such as seabirds, fishes, crustaceans, and other invertebrates are mostly effected by plastic entanglements and organic pollutants absorbed and carried by plastics/microplastics. Plastics can also be potentially harmful to human beings and other mammals. Keeping in view the possible harms of plastics, some mitigation strategies must be adopted which may include the use of bioplastics and some natural polymers such as squid-ring teeth protein. This review focuses on the possible sources of intrusion and fate of plastics in different ecosystems, their potential deleterious effects on wildlife, and the measures that can be taken to minimize and avoid the plastic use.

Current Prospects for Plastic Waste Treatment

The excessive amount of global plastic produced over the past century, together with poor waste management, has raised concerns about environmental sustainability. Plastic recycling has become a practical approach for diminishing plastic waste and maintaining sustainability among plastic waste management methods. Chemical and mechanical recycling are the typical approaches to recycling plastic waste, with a simple process, low cost, environmentally friendly process, and potential profitability. Several plastic materials, such as polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, and polyurethanes, can be recycled with chemical and mechanical recycling approaches. Nevertheless, due to plastic waste’s varying physical and chemical properties, plastic waste separation becomes a challenge. Hence, a reliable and effective plastic waste separation technology is critical for increasing plastic waste’s value and recycling rate. Integrating recycling and plastic waste separation technologies would be an efficient method for reducing the accumulation of environmental contaminants produced by plastic waste, especially in industrial uses. This review addresses recent advances in plastic waste recycling technology, mainly with chemical recycling. The article also discusses the current recycling technology for various plastic materials.

Thermochemical Conversion of Plastic Waste into Fuels, Chemicals, and Value-Added Materials: A Critical Review and Outlooks

Plastic waste is an emerging environmental issue for our society. Critical action to tackle this problem is to upcycle plastic waste as valuable feedstock. Thermochemical conversion of plastic waste has received growing attention. Although thermochemical conversion is promising for handling mixed plastic waste, it typically occurs at high temperatures (300-800 °C). Catalysts can play a critical role in improving the energy efficiency of thermochemical conversion, promoting targeted reactions, and improving product selectivity. This Review aims to summarize the state-of-the-art of catalytic thermochemical conversions of various types of plastic waste. First, general trends and recent development of catalytic thermochemical conversions including pyrolysis, gasification, hydrothermal processes, and chemolysis of plastic waste into fuels, chemicals, and value-added materials were reviewed. Second, the status quo for the commercial implementation of thermochemical conversion of plastic waste was summarized. Finally, the current challenges and future perspectives of catalytic thermochemical conversion of plastic waste including the design of sustainable and robust catalysts were discussed.

Effect of brominated flame retardant on the pyrolysis products of polymers originating in WEEE

Chemical recycling is an environmentally friendly method, which is often used for the recycling of plastics included in waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE), since fuels and secondary valuable materials can be produced. Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are usually added into these plastics to reduce their flammability; but they are toxic substances. The aim of this work is to examine the thermal behaviour and the products obtained after pyrolysis of polymer blends that consist of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), polycarbonate (PC) and polypropylene (PP) with composition that simulates real WEEE, in the absence and presence of a common BFR, tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), in order to investigate its effect on pyrolysis products. Blends were prepared via the solvent casting method and the melt-mixing in an extruder; it was revealed that the latter method may be a better choice for blends preparation, since it did not affect the products obtained. The chemical structure of each polymeric blend was identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Thermal degradation of the blends was evaluated by thermogravimetric (TG) experiments performed using a thermal analyser (TGA) and a pyrolyser for evolved gas analysis (EGA). It was observed that blends had a similar behaviour during their thermal degradation; and in most cases, they followed a one-step mechanism. Pyrolysis products were identified by the pyrolyser combined with a gas chromatographer/mass spectrometer (GC/MS), and comprised various useful compounds, such as monomers, aromatic hydrocarbons and phenolic compounds that could be used as chemical feedstock. Furthermore, it was found that TBBPA affected products distribution by enhancing the formation of phenolic compounds and on the other hand by resulting in brominated compounds, such as dibromophenol.

Machine learning-assisted optimization of TBBPA-bis-(2,3-dibromopropyl ether) extraction process from ABS polymer

The increasing amount of e-waste plastics needs to be disposed of properly, and removing the brominated flame retardants contained in them can effectively reduce their negative impact on the environment. In the present work, TBBPA-bis-(2,3-dibromopropyl ether) (TBBPA-DBP), a novel brominated flame retardant, was extracted by ultrasonic-assisted solvothermal extraction process. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) achieved by machine learning (support vector regression, SVR) was employed to estimate the optimum extraction conditions (extraction time, extraction temperature, liquid to solid ratio) in methanol or ethanol solvent. The predicted optimum conditions of TBBPA-DBP were 96 min, 131 mL g^-1, 65 °C, in MeOH, and 120 min, 152 mL g^-1, 67 °C in EtOH. And the validity of predicted conditions was verified.

Achievements in pyrolysis process in E-waste management sector

Many aspects of modern life of our civilization are associated with using electrical and electronic devices (EEE). Ever-increasing demand for high-performance EEE and accelerated technological development make the replacement of EEE become frequent. This leads to the generation of a tremendous amount of electronic waste (E-waste). Challenges of the management of E-waste have recently arisen out of a dearth of proper technologies to treat E-waste. Pyrolysis process can thermochemically treat waste materials that have a complicated nature and inhomogeneity. This article gives a systematic review as an effort to tackle the challenges in the context of achievements in pyrolysis process in E-waste management sector. Pyrolysis mechanism and types of pyrolysis processes and pyrolysis reactors are first discussed. Various pyrolysis technologies applied to the E-waste treatment are then summarized and compared to each other. Points to be considered for further research and pending challenges of E-waste pyrolysis are also discussed. The pyrolysis treatment of E-waste is not yet fully industrialized mostly because of high costs. However, there should be much room for further developing the E-waste pyrolysis; hence, its industrialization and commercialization is just a matter of time.

Value-added products from thermochemical treatments of contaminated e-waste plastics

The rise of electronic waste (e-waste) generation around the globe has become a major concern in recent times and its recycling is mostly focused on the recovery of valuable metals, such as gold, silver, and copper, etc. However, e-waste consists of a significant weight fraction of plastics (25-30%) which are either discarded or incinerated. There is a growing need for recycling of these e-waste plastics. The majority of them are made from high-quality polymers (composites), such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), high impact polystyrene (HIPS), polycarbonate (PC), polyamide (PA), polypropylene (PP) and epoxies. These plastics are often contaminated with hazardous materials, such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and heavy metals (such as Pb and Hg). Under any thermal stress (thermal degradation), the Br present in the e-waste plastics produces environmentally hazardous pollutants, such as hydrogen bromide or polybrominated diphenyl ethers/furans (PBDE/Fs). The discarded plastics can lead to the leaching of toxins into the environment. It is important to remove the toxins from the e-waste plastics before recycling. This review article gives a detailed account of e-waste plastics recycling and recovery using thermochemical processes, such as extraction (at elevated temperature), incineration (combustion), hydrolysis, and pyrolysis (catalytic/non catalytic). A basic framework of the existing processes has been established by reviewing the most interesting findings in recent times and the prospects that they open in the field recycling of e-waste plastics.

Chemical recycling of poly(bisphenol A carbonate)

This review covers the current status of chemical recycling and upcycling of poly(bisphenol A carbonate), a leading engineering plastic of great economic and environmental interest.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment: A Review on the Identification Methods for Polymeric Materials

Considering that the large quantity of waste electrical and electronic equipment plastics generated annually causes increasing environmental concerns for their recycling and also for preserving of raw material resources, decreasing of energy consumption, or saving the virgin materials used, the present challenge is considered to be the recovery of individual polymers from waste electrical and electronic equipment. This study aims to provide an update of the main identification methods of waste electrical and electronic equipment such as spectroscopic fingerprinting, thermal study, and sample techniques (like identification code and burning test), and the characteristic values in the case of the different analyses of the polymers commonly used in electrical and electronic equipment. Additionally, the quality of the identification is very important, as, depending on this, new materials with suitable properties can be obtained to be used in different industrial applications. The latest research in the field demonstrated that a complete characterization of individual WEEE (Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment) components is important to obtain information on the chemical and physical properties compared to the original polymers and their compounds. The future directions are heading towards reducing the costs by recycling single polymer plastic waste fractions that can replace virgin plastic at a ratio of almost 1:1.

Dissolution of adhesive resins present in plastic waste to recover polyolefin by sink-float separation processes

This study investigated the dissolution of adhesive resins present in polyolefin films that cause plastic materials to adhere to each other. The process of dissolution was made by the use of ethyl acetate and followed by separation through the sink-float process. The objective was to separate and characterize polyolefin films from plastic solid waste derived from recycled post-consumer paper. Through these procedures, 6% polyethylene of high-density (HDPE), 14% polyethylene of low-density (LDPE) and 39% polypropylene (PP) were separated and recovered from plastic waste. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermal gravimetric analyzes (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) were conducted to determine the chemical, thermal and mechanical properties of the recovered polymers and to establish a comparison with standard commercial polymers. It demonstrated that recovered material kept their chemical, thermal, and mechanical properties. This process indicates possible economic viability considering the demand, the market value of the PP, and the required investment to be implemented in the recycling process that could be amortized in a short period of time. Moreover, the organic solvent used in the dissolution process can be easily recovered by distillation.

Towards the effective E-waste management in Bangladesh: a review

Nowadays, the electrical and electronic products are a crucial commodity for different purposes of daily life and they are multiplying five times faster than human like mobile phones, which has reached zero to 7.2 billion in only three decades. A 5-10% yearly increase in the amount of used electrical and electronic equipment that are disposed of prudently can cause environmental hazards that have an aversive effect on human health, marine life, contamination of groundwater, and reduces soil's fertility. Management of this enormous influx of electrical and electronic waste is a challenge for developing countries like Bangladesh with barebones solid waste management infrastructure. Inadequacy of public awareness, policies and poor budget in the field of waste management are few of the key factors behind this delineating scenario. In this study, the picture electrical and electronic waste productions in Bangladesh along with the recent E-waste management systems have been presented comprehensively. Based on the study, it was concluded that most of the adapted E-waste management methods are conversational and detached from current technological capability. A set of sustainable E-waste management system has been suggested along with the challenges, which might appear during the implementation of these strategies. Successful implementation of these suggested systems would advance the quality of E-waste management in Bangladesh increasing the current 35% overall E-waste recycling rate and offer enormous energy from the waste.

Hydrogen and steam injected tandem μ-reactor GC/FID system: phenol recovery from bisphenol A and alkylphenols using Ni/Y zeolite

Hydrogen and steam injected tandem μ-reactor-GC/FID system achieved online quantification of products from hydrogenation and dealkylation of bisphenol A and alkylphenols using Ni/Y zeolite.

Solvent-based separation and recycling of waste plastics: A review

Since the creation of first man-made plastic, the global production and consumption of plastics have been continuously increasing. However, because plastic materials are durable and very slow to degrade, they become waste with high staying power. The over-consumption, disposal, and littering of plastics result in pollution, thus causing serious environmental consequences. To date, only a fraction of waste plastics is reused and recycled. In fact, recycling plastics remains a great challenge because of technical challenges and relatively insufficient profits, especially in mixed plastics. This review focuses on an environmentally friendly and potentially profitable method for plastics separation and recovery and solvents extraction. It includes the dissolution/reprecipitation method and supercritical fluid extraction, which produce high-quality recovered plastics comparable to virgin materials. These methods are summarized and discussed taking mass-produced plastics (PS, PC, Polyolefins, PET, ABS, and PVC) as examples. To exploit the method, the quality and efficiency of solvent extraction are elaborated. By eliminating these technical challenges, the solvent extraction method is becoming more promising and sustainable for plastic issues and polymer markets.

Selective phenol recovery via simultaneous hydrogenation/dealkylation of isopropyl- and isopropenyl-phenols employing an H2 generator combined with tandem micro-reactor GC/MS

The pyrolysis of bisphenol A (BPA), an essential process ingredient used in industry and many everyday life products, helps produce low-industrial-demand chemicals such as isopropenyl- and isopropyl-phenols (IPP and iPrP). In this study, tandem micro-reactor gas chromatography/mass spectrometry combined with an H₂ generator (H₂-TR-GC/MS) was employed for the first time to investigate the selective recovery of phenol via simultaneous hydrogenation/dealkylation of IPP and iPrP. After investigating the iPrP dealkylation performances of several zeolites, we obtained full iPrP conversion with over 99% phenol selectivity using the Y-zeolite at 350 °C. In contrast, when applied to IPP, the zeolite acid centres caused IPP polymerisation and subsequent IPP-polymer cracking, resulting in many byproducts and reduced phenol selectivity. This challenge was overcome by the addition of 0.3 wt% Ni on the Y-zeolite (0.3Ni/Y), which enabled the hydrogenation of IPP into iPrP and subsequent dealkylation into phenol (full IPP conversion with 92% phenol selectivity). Moreover, the catalyst deactivation and product distribution over repetitive catalytic use were successfully monitored using the H₂-TR-GC/MS system. We believe that the findings presented herein could allow the recovery of phenol-rich products from polymeric waste with BPA macro skeleton.

From waste plastics to industrial raw materials: A life cycle assessment of mechanical plastic recycling practice based on a real-world case study

Mechanical recycling of waste plastics is an environmental solution to the problem of waste plastic disposal, and has already become a common practice in industry. However, limited information can be found on either the industralised plastic recycling or the recycled materials, despite the use of recycled plastics has already extended to automobile production. This study investigates the life cycle environmental impacts of mechanical plastic recycling practice of a plastic recycling company in China. Waste plastics from various sources, such as agricultural wastes, plastic product manufacturers, collected solid plastic wastes and parts dismantled from waste electric and electronic equipments, are processed in three routes with products end up in different markets. The results of life cycle assessments show that the extrusion process has the largest environmental impacts, followed by the use of fillers and additives. Compared to production of virgin plastics and composites, the mechanical recycling is proved to be a superior alternative in most environmental aspects. Substituting virgin plastic composites with recycled plastic composites has achieved the highest environmental benefits, as virgin composite production has an impact almost 4 times higher that of the recycled composite production in each ReCiPe endpoint damage factor. Sensitivity analysis shows that the coverage of collecting network contribute affect little to overall environmental impact, and centralisation plays an important role in reducing overall environmental impacts. Among the fillers and additives, impact modifiers account for the most significant contributions to the environmental impacts of recycled composites. This study provides necessary information about the existing industrialised plastic recycling practice, and recommendations are given. Research implications are presented with the purpose to achieve higher substitution rate and lower environmental impact.

Laboratory simulations of the mixed solvent extraction recovery of dominate polymers in electronic waste

The recovery of four dominant plastics from electronic waste (e-waste) using mixed solvent extraction was studied. The target plastics included polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and styrene acrylonitrile (SAN). The extraction procedure for multi-polymers at room temperature yielded PC, PS, ABS, and SAN in acceptable recovery rates (64%, 86%, 127%, and 143%, respectively, where recovery rate is defined as the mass ratio of the recovered plastic to the added standard polymer). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to verify the recovered plastics' purity using a similarity analysis. The similarities ranged from 0.98 to 0.99. Another similar process, which was denoted as an alternative method for plastic recovery, was examined as well. Nonetheless, the FTIR results showed degradation may occur over time. Additionally, the recovery cost estimation model of our method was established. The recovery cost estimation indicated that a certain range of proportion of plastics in e-waste, especially with a higher proportion of PC and PS, can achieve a lower cost than virgin polymer product. It also reduced 99.6%, 30.7% and 75.8% of energy consumptions and CO₂ emissions during the recovery of PC, PS and ABS, and reduced the amount of plastic waste disposal via landfill or incineration and associated environmental impacts.

Method for efficient recovery of high-purity polycarbonates from electronic waste

More than one million tons of polycarbonates from waste electrical and electronic equipment are consigned to landfills at an increasing rate of 3-5% per year. Recycling the polymer waste should have a major environmental impact. Pure solvents cannot be used to selectively extract polycarbonates from mixtures of polymers with similar properties. In this study, selective mixed solvents are found using guidelines from Hansen solubility parameters, gradient polymer elution chromatography, and solubility tests. A room-temperature sequential extraction process using two mixed solvents is developed to recover polycarbonates with high yield (>95%) and a similar purity and molecular weight distribution as virgin polycarbonates. The estimated cost of recovery is less than 30% of the cost of producing virgin polycarbonates from petroleum. This method would potentially reduce raw materials from petroleum, use 84% less energy, reduce emission by 1-6 tons of CO2 per ton of polycarbonates, and reduce polymer accumulation in landfills and associated environmental hazards.

Pyrolysis and catalytic pyrolysis as a recycling method of waste CDs originating from polycarbonate and HIPS

Pyrolysis appears to be a promising recycling process since it could convert the disposed polymers to hydrocarbon based fuels or various useful chemicals. In the current study, two model polymers found in WEEEs, namely polycarbonate (PC) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and their counterparts found in waste commercial Compact Discs (CDs) were pyrolysed in a bench scale reactor. Both, thermal pyrolysis and pyrolysis in the presence of two catalytic materials (basic MgO and acidic ZSM-5 zeolite) was performed for all four types of polymers. Results have shown significant recovery of the monomers and valuable chemicals (phenols in the case of PC and aromatic hydrocarbons in the case of HIPS), while catalysts seem to decrease the selectivity towards the monomers and enhance the selectivity towards other desirable compounds.

Facile characterization of polymer fractions from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) for mechanical recycling

In view of the environmental problem involved in the management of WEEE, and then in the recycling of post-consumer plastic of WEEE there is a pressing need for rapid measurement technologies for simple identification of the various commercial plastic materials and of the several contaminants, to improve the recycling of such wastes. This research is focused on the characterization and recycling of two types of plastics, namely plastic from personal computer (grey plastic) and plastic from television (black plastic). Various analytical techniques were used to monitor the compositions of WEEE. Initially, the chemical structure of each plastic material was identified by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Polymeric contaminants of these plastics, in particular brominated flame retardants (BFRs) were detected in grey plastics only using different techniques. These techniques are useful for a rapid, correct and economics identification of a large volumes of WEEE plastics.