Poster (EARTH)

[PE1-011] Study on Identification of Plastics with Brominated Flame Retardants(BFRs) in Used Small Household Appliances by Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Technique

○Bam-bit Jung¹, Tae-jun Choe, Eun-kyu Park, Woo-zin Choi (1. Center for IT and Environmental Research, The University of Suwon)

Keywords:Plastic, BFRs, Identification, Used small household appliance, LIBS

Recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is important, not only to reduce the amount of waste requiring treatment, but also to promote the recovery of valuable materials as well as the responsible elimination of its hazardous components and compounds. One of key issues in plastic recycling is identification of plastics containing brominated flame retardants (BFRs), which should not enter recycling products. There are technologies that can identify the plastics with BFRs, however, none of this is practiced for WEEE or e-waste.

In the present study, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technique is used to identify and sort the plastics with BFRs recovered from the used small household appliances such as an electric cooker, a vacuum cleaner, an air cleaner, etc. LIBS is a form of atomic emission spectroscopy which is typically performed using a pulsed laser to create a surface ablation on a sample which is then analyzed spectroscopically for its elemental and molecular composition. LIBS also has its own set of advantages such as it is able to detect black plastics.

The present communication gives a brief review of the current status of the development on lab-scale automatic sensing system for identification and sorting of plastics obtained from the used small household appliances.