Bäckar said that many companies had told ChemSec how they found it difficult to use recycled materials in their consumer products because of the chemicals that remain in them.
“They struggle to increase the use of recycled materials in products, while staying compliant with chemical legislation and their own chemical requirements. Of course, this limits the market for recycled materials,” she said.
The report said that textile recycling was still underdeveloped with only around one per cent of textiles being recycled into new clothes. Recycling of plastic packaging was more developed but rates were still only about 10 per cent globally.
In the report, ChemSec takes a closer look at the chemicals that prevent safe recycling, as well as available recycling methods. Different recycling methodologies are compared based on how they handle hazardous chemicals, and emerging techniques that effectively track chemical content are investigated.
It says there are several recycling methods, under the umbrella term ‘chemical recycling’, that could potentially remove substances of concern from recycled materials, but says these are very energy-intensive, expensive, limited to certain types of materials and could – ironically – generate further hazardous chemicals.
Bäckar concludes: “Mechanical recycling is expected to remain the primary technology for the foreseeable future, making the phasing out of substances of concern all the more urgent.
“As long as problematic chemicals are included in material flows, we will not be able to achieve a truly sustainable circular economy and reap the many benefits of it. With this report, we aim to nuance the picture and contribute some of the missing pieces in the puzzle we all have to help solve.”
The report says companies can contribute to a safe circular economy by producing only what can be recycled safely, considering recycling when choosing materials and
during the design phase, and avoiding the use of chemicals of concern.
It urges recyclers to do their part by using separate streams to avoid mixing waste of known and unknown chemical content, being transparent about the chemical content of recycled materials, and working closely with manufacturers on best practice.
And it says policymakers need to speed up legal processes to phase out substances of concern, apply the same requirements to virgin and recycled materials, and consider recycling in all socioeconomic and impact assessments.
