End-of-life treatment of polystyrene insulation foams (containing HBCD)

Technical Summary Report published by Plastic Europe, the Association of Plastics Manufactures.

Large-scale demonstration of the treatment of Expanded Polystyrene Foam (EPS) and Extruded Polystyrene Foam (XPS) containing Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) as a flame- retardant by co-incineration in the Würzburg Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator.

Polystyrene insulation foams are durable materials, designed to offer superior, constant insulation per-
formance over their entire service life of more than 50 years. The use of polystyrene foam reduces
significantly heat losses and related CO 2 emissions from heating and/or air conditioning, thus contribut- ing strongly to mitigation of the effects of climate change by improving energy efficiency.

HBCD, the flame retardant most used so far for polystyrene insulation boards, has recently been classified by the EU authorities as a substance subject to Authorisation under REACH; it is also being
listed as a POP (Persistent Organic Pollutant) under the UNEP Stockholm Convention.

Determining and implementing safe end-of-life treatment options for polystyrene foam boards containing HBCD is essential to meet these possible regulatory requirements; a demonstration trial was carried out in 2013 to evaluate the co-incineration of these foams with municipal solid waste to assess if it could be a suitable option of choice in this respect.

This document provides a technical overview of this demonstration trial and of its results.