Hazardous chemicals in products can contaminate waste streams and hinder resource savings and recycling. Waste treatment companies need to have good information in order to keep separate contaminated from non-contaminated wastes and thus ensure cleaner secondary materials. This is the basis for new business opportunities on the raw materials market.

Chemicals in the circular economy

The circular economy plays a crucial role in meeting the growing demand for resources. However, circular material flows also present challenges, particularly the risk of hazardous chemicals, being carried over from waste into secondary materials, and eventually into products. This can lead to potential human health and environmental risks.

The Role of Waste Treatment Companies

Hazardous chemicals enter the waste streams through the products they were originally used in. For some hazardous substances legal requirements exist regarding the treatment of waste, such as the regulation on persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

Secondary materials have to comply with legal requirements regarding the absence/content of hazardous chemicals, in particular restrictions in chemicals or product legislation. Waste collectors, sorting facilities and recycling plants could prevent substances from re-entering the production cycle by effectively separating these from end-of-life products and materials.

However, the waste treatment chain usually lacks data on the composition of their input materials (wastes). Without this information, they can neither decide on the appropriate type of waste processing nor fully ensure their secondary materials are free of (certain) hazardous substances, unless they conduct comprehensive and costly chemical analyses.

The Challenge of Hazardous Chemicals in Waste

For a circular economy to function effectively and to produce secondary materials that are free of hazardous substances, the waste treatment sector must have better access to information on hazardous chemicals in end-of-life materials. Knowing the exact composition of waste input allows for safer, higher-quality secondary materials.

Another key factor is the development of strong markets for high-quality secondary materials. Knowledge about the absence of hazardous chemicals must be rewarded with higher prices. Demand for these materials—and market incentives for cleaner alternatives—will play a crucial role. Regulations such as the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation are expected to support this transition. However, how market prices for recycled materials will evolve in response to hazardous chemical content remains uncertain.

Advancements in technology are essential to improving hazardous substance identification, waste sorting, and material separation. Additionally, companies need enhanced capacity to manage waste streams separately and implement safe disposal methods for highly contaminated materials.