1. www.benkeet.com © 2010 Ben Keet 1 Why most plastics in category 5, 6 and 7 should be landfilled and not recycled Drs. Ben Keet FRSC Geo & Hydro – K8 Ltd e-mail: ben@benkeet.comben@benkeet.com

2. www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 2 Verschueren Environmental Consultancy B.V. Geo & Hydro – K8 Ltd Excellence in Environmental Engineering Study for Ministry for the Environment Investigation of brominated flame retardants present in articles being used, recycled and disposed of in New Zealand. http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/hazardous/investigation-of-brominated-flame- retardants/investigation-of-brominated-flame-retardants.pdf

3. Flame retardants are present in many plastics. There are 9 main groups www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 3 Brominated flame retardants make up 10 % by weight In Europe alone 50.000 tons in 2007

4. Brominated Flame Retardants polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs or BDE’s) tetrabromobisphenol (TBBP-A) hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 4

5. polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) 209 congeners ProductComposition PoBDETrBDETeBDEPeBDEHxBDEHpBDEOBDENBDEDeBDE 0.3-3%97-98% OBDE10-12%43-44%31-35%9-11%0-1% PeBDE0-1%24-38%50-62%4-8% TeBDE7.6%--41-42%44-45%6-7% www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 5 Commercial BDE’s are always a blend

6. Why a study into Brominated Flame Retardants ? PBDE’s Classed as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP’s) by Stockholm Convention Banned in most countries: Penta BDE Octa BDE Banned or to be banned: Deca BDE In many countries: Hazardous waste if products contain over 0.25% BDE www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 6

7. Natural breakdown and bio-accumulation of PBDE’s Natural dehalogenation of PBDE’s by UV radiation (photodecomposition) Results in more lower brominated PBDE’s. Bioaccumulation is stronger for lower PBDEs Deco  Nona  Octa  Septa  Hexa  Penta  Tetra Aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation not well reseached. www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 7

8. “the graph that launched a thousand papers” Meironyt D, Bergman A. 1999. Analysis of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Swedish Human Milk, www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 8

9. BDE concentration in House / Office Dust www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 9 Study Location(s) Number of samples Total PBDEs (ppb)Deca (ppb) AverageRangeAverageRange House Dust 10 pooled samples of 10 houses each 10,543 4,254 - 20,505 9,8203,800 - 19,900 EWG study10 houses4,629 614 - 16,366 (41,203) 2,394< 400 - 7,510 5 houses3,699 1,412 - 11,426 1,232916 - 1,472 25 houses1,807145 - 27,0081,394137 - 19,100 2 houses267129 - 405180100 - 260 Office dust Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Denmark 7 Parliament buildings 2,371437 - 7,1002,129330 - 6,900 3 internet providers 405311 - 546360260 - 490

10. How to Detect BFR’s ? Lab analysis Not av. In NZ Expensive Selective X-Ray Fluorescence Portable Sensitive to Br Not selective www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 10 Figure E.1 Display of XRF analyser showing the bromine concentration of a wall switch (Mitre 10)

11. Estimated quantities of BDE in various sources of the New Zealand environment www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 11

12. www.benkeet.com©2008 Ben Keet 12 Landfill lechate was sampled at Greenmount and Hampton downs. At Hampton Downs, closed cell 1 daily 0.034 ng BDEs leave the landfill. This equates to ¼ kg of BDE containing plastic leaving landfill each year. This is 1 billionth of the total mass of plastics in the landfill. Landfill are secure to sore BDE’s

13. BDE’s in Plastics www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 13 Plastic No. 5 6 3 4 7

14. www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 14 BDE’s

15. Recycling Polystyrene (No. 6) Good or Bad? Questions - Discussion www.benkeet.com©2010 Ben Keet 15 Figure 3 Richard Moore, creator of Poly Palace in Porirua