Recycling

This study of children’s products from 26 countries revealed that toxic flame-retardant chemicals in recycled electronic waste results in pervasive contamination of new plastic children’s toys and related products. Recycling materials that contain persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other toxic substances contaminates new products, creates human and environmental exposure, and undermines the credibility of recycling.

Evidence of banned toxic flame-retardants, hazardous chemicals from electronic waste that are known to disrupt thyroid function and cause neurological and attention deficits in children, are recycled into new plastic consumer products across Europe.

Research from IPEN and BAN reveals dire human exposure and food chain contamination from highly toxic plastics in waste in Ghana, including toxic recycled e-waste shipped from Europe.

Plastics and food packaging contain chemical contaminants from manufacturing along with many additives. Many of these additives are toxic and they leak from products during use and can be released during recycling and from recycled products. This study focuses on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), whose releases are closely linked to plastic waste. 

This executive summary combines IPEN's two new reports on the chemicals in plastic pellets that endanger human health and the environment — "Plastic pellets found on beaches all over the world contain toxic chemicals" and "Widespread chemical contamination of recycled plastic pellets globally", in which we investigated chemicals in pellets made from recycled waste plastics.

Almost all plastics contain toxic chemicals that are not removed during recycling but are carried over to the new products, and the recycling process can even generate new toxic chemicals such as dioxins. The increased recycling is intended to contribute to a so-called circular economy, but plastics containing toxic chemicals should not be recycled. Instead, they should be considered non-circular materials.

The report shows how Big Oil and the plastics industry have deceptively promoted recycling as a solution to plastic waste management for more than 50 years, despite their long-standing knowledge that plastic recycling is not technically or economically viable at scale.

This study found significant levels of toxic brominated dioxins (PBDD/Fs) in toys. These endocrine disrupting chemicals may impact hormone levels in children through dust and toys and can, for example, affect brain development, damage the immune system and fetus, or induce carcinogenesis.

This fact sheet illustrates health care waste management, composition, segregation and prevention with graphs and visual materials.

The main aim of the Zero Waste Cities Manual is to provide a practical guide for the implementation of a zero waste system that emphasises decentralisation, source segregation, resource recovery, and informal sector inclusion. The vision for a zero waste system is to minimise movement of solid waste generated to disposal sites or facilities.