Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP’s) are potentially hazardous organic substances which can impact the environment and human health if they escape. POPs do not break down easily in the environment. Historically they were used in many industrial processes including being used as a plastic additive to slow down degradation or to make items fire retardant; so they could be in the casing, printed circuit board or cable cover or virtually any electrical item. They have been classified as hazardous due to the environmental damage POPs can cause when not treated properly.

​

How does this link to WEEE recycling?

​

The flame retardants previously used in the manufacture of WEEE plastics are now identified as POPs, the most common being brominated flame retardants. Whilst these substances were legitimately added to plastics at the point of manufacture, they are now prohibited under the Stockholm Convention which places guidelines on the disposal of waste containing POPs. Waste containing POPs above a certain threshold is required to be disposed of in such a way that the POP is ‘destroyed or irreversibly transformed’ and the negative environmental impact is therefore removed. The Environment Agency have ruled that EEE manufactured after January 2009 is ‘much less likely’ to contain hazardous substances. As a result, EEE can only be reused in the UK if it can be proved it was manufactured after 1 January 2009 and meets all other requirements for reuse. Other WEEE plastics containing POPs cannot be treated in the same way as WEEE plastics which do not contain POPs.  The Hazardous Waste Regulations were amended 2019 to take into account the revised EU Regulation on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).  The new legislation sets tougher controls on chemicals historically used as flame retardants as well as other potentially hazardous substances. The legislation will result in a need for greater sorting and separation of what is now deemed potentially hazardous plastic derived from WEEE. In practice, the new legislation means that some plastics from WEEE which would previously have been recycled, will now be destroyed by incineration. It is anticipated that this could add significant cost to the treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment, as hazardous waste materials are subject to greater regulatory controls than non-hazardous waste and due to more limited treatment options.

This all has the potential to result in increased treatment costs, particularly for small mixed WEEE. This, in turn, could then have a knock-on effect on the cost of WEEE evidence, required to demonstrate compliance under the WEEE Regulations.  The Environment Agency and DEFRA are currently consulting with approved treatment facilities, plastics reprocessors and compliance schemes to outline the expected changes to the legal requirements for WEEE treatment in the UK in light of the presence of POPs in WEEE plastics.