Additives and problematic substances: what's at stake for circularity?
Published on 7 December 2023
Publication
Myriam Vanneste, from Centexbel-VKC, discusses the importance of additives in plastics, the challenges posed by NIAS and other hazardous substances, and how recent advances facilitate their evaluation, identification and neutralization in the laboratory, with a view to industrial application.
- Raw materials
Plastics contain various additives to improve their properties and processes. Some, once considered safe, are now recognized as hazardous. Unintentionally added NIAS can form during degradation. Regulations vary by region, requiring rigorous verification. Lab methods exist to detect hazardous materials, with efforts to adapt these methods to industrial scale, aiming to replace harmful additives, although some challenges remain, notably for oleophobic properties.