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Recycling of plastic waste from electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), containing brominated flame retardants (BFR) remains difficult due to the increasingly stringent regulations on their handling and recovery. This report deals with photodegradation in a low-pressure reactor applying UV-visible light on Decabromodiphenyl ether (DBDE or BDE-209) randomly dispersed in commercially available Poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) (ABS) and Poly(carbonate) (PC). The aim of this study is to investigate the possibility of decomposing a BFR in plastic waste from EEE while maintaining the specifications of the polymeric materials in order to allow for their recycling. The photodegradation of the extracted BFR was monitored using infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectroscopy. DBDE underwent rapid photodegradation during the first minutes of exposure to UV-visible light and reached degradation yields superior to 90% after 15 min of irradiation. The evaluation of polymer properties (ABS and PC) after irradiation revealed superficial crosslinking effects, which were slightly accelerated in the presence of DBDE. However, the use of a low-pressure reactor avoids large photooxidation and allowed to maintain the thermal and structural properties of the virgin polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decabromodiphenylether (DBDE) is a brominated flame retardant which belongs to the group of polybromodiphenylethers (PBDEs) often used as a fire resistant additive in various well known polymeric systems like polystyrene, poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) (ABS), polypropylene, etc. This compound can be considered as a persistent organic pollutant and presents certain risks for the environment owing to the fact that it is bioaccumulable and not biodegradable. A detailed investigation, described here, was carried out on the effect of ultraviolet/visible radiation on DBDE in ABS with the aim to study the photolytic reactions of this molecule in the solid state, in order to improve the economic and ecological treatment of brominated plastic waste from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). This study presents new aspects of the photochemical degradation of DBDE/ABS systems in the solid state. The photodegradation of DBDE in ABS was followed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) as well as by thermogravimetrical analysis (TGA). Good agreement was obtained for the results of both analytical methods in terms of the overall photolysis of DBDE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]