Environmental issues in polymer processing: A review on volatile emissionsand material/energy recovery options

Environmental issues in polymer processing can be related to materials/ener gy balances in terms of volatile emissions generated during manufacture and selection of appropriate material/energy recovery options for the manufact ured product. This review presents information related to the types of vola tiles emanating during the processing of commodity thermoplastics and reinf orced thermosets along with analytical methods for their measurement. The i dentification of volatiles and the development of analytic techniques for m easuring their concentration in the workplace are of paramount importance t o establish or revise threshold limit values that would minimize exposure t o hazardous chemical substances. With respect to material/energy recovery o ptions applicable to fabricated polymer-based parts, this article reviews m ethodologies based on life-cycle analysis principles to establish an approx imate hierarchy of energy recovery potential. It is shown that the overall energy requirements for most secondary (melt reprocessing) or tertiary (che mical) recycling alternatives are well below those of landfilling (highest energy consumption) and for some alternatives closer to those of reuse (low est energy consumption). (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.