In an article published on February 29, 2016 by the business information platform Plasteurope.com Keith Freegard, director of recycling company Axion Polymers, expresses his concerns that regulation of hazardous chemicals in the EU might hinder efforts to recycle plastics. According to Freegard, banning persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and substances of very high concern (SVHCs) would prevent recycling of polymers containing these chemicals. Thus, the vision of a ‘toxic-free’ Europe means “risking that [these polymers] are burned rather than recovered or recycled.” Further, Freegard states that low levels of chemicals of concern in recycled plastics can be dealt with “successfully and harmlessly” through recycling. In order to achieve the goals of the EU’s Circular Economy Package, there is a need for “a more pragmatic approach that enables materials that already contain those additives to be recycled.”
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Plasteurope.com (February 29, 2016). “Recycling – Bans on POPs and SVHCs undermine recycling, says Axion Polymers executive.”
