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Health risks of waste recycling (recycling and reuse)

Summary

Can recycling waste have a negative impact on health? Reuse, re-employment, recovery and recycling appear to be solutions that can reduce the environmental risks associated with waste management. But what about the health risks associated with these practices? In order to respond to the concerns of RECORD members, the Réseau Santé Déchets (RSD) carried out a search for studies dealing with the health risks posed by the use of products made from recycled waste or by the recovery of certain types of waste (organic and mineral waste). This search was guided by a consultation of recycling experts. The regulations governing the various categories of waste are presented at the beginning of the report.  The first category of waste comes from consumer items and enables raw materials to be recycled (monomaterial waste: glass packaging, paper/cardboard, plastic bottles, EPS, plasterboard, etc.) and complex waste: WEEE, ELV, batteries, etc.). Some waste electrical and electronic equipment, end-of-life vehicles, batteries and accumulators undergo treatment to extract what can be recycled as a raw material (plastics and metals in particular). Recycling channels for this waste are more or less organised. The health risk associated with closed-loop recycling of this waste appears unlikely. The recycling of materials in contact with food (glass, plastics and paperboard) is subject to very comprehensive regulations based on a large body of research into the migration of pollutants from materials to food (mainly plastics and paperboard). The application of these regulations, which set limit values for pollutants in materials, guarantees a high level of health safety for consumers. The second category of waste is recovered through reuse (household electrical equipment, reusable packaging (eco-refills, deposits), etc. Furniture and pallets are also reused. This form of closed-loop recycling does not pose any specific health problems. Waste in the third category is generated by an industrial process and recovered mainly in the construction industry (mineral waste: residues from thermal processes, demolition waste, etc. and organic waste: tyres recovered for flooring, etc.). Open-loop recycling of this waste could pose a health problem linked to the release of pollutants into the environment. The health risk to humans has yet to be assessed. Fermentable waste in the fourth category is mainly used for agricultural purposes (compost, wastewater treatment plant sludge, paper industry sludge, food industry waste, etc.). Several regulations set limit values (in concentrations and flows) for trace metals, organic pollutants and pathogens in materials intended to be spread on land (agricultural use of composts or WWTP sludge) and in receiving soils. Environmental contamination linked to the open-loop recycling of this organic waste, particularly soil contamination, has been proven. It was well beyond the scope of our work to summarise the abundant literature on the subject. Following a number of recent incidents (mad cow disease, dioxin in chickens, etc.), there are concerns about the use of animal by-products in livestock feed. Regulatory measures have been taken to withdraw suspect foodstuffs from the market in order to ensure consumer health safety.

Keywords: déchets ménagers, déchets industriels, déchets organiques, valorisation déchets, recyclage, réutilisation, réemploi, contact alimentaire, impact sanitaire, risque sanitaire, municipal wastes, industrial wastes, organic wastes, recycling, reuse, food contact, health risk

Publication date: February 2007

Achievement: POLDEN / INSAVALOR, Réseau Santé Déchets

Reference: 04-0663/1A


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