STABILIZATION OF LEACHATE IN AGGREGATES MADE WITH PLASTIC FROM WEEE

Abstract

A recycled plastic aggregate (RPA) was developed using the core-shell strategy, where the core is the plastic fraction of Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and a cement matrix with stabilizing additives acts as the shell. The amount of brominated flame retardant (mainly tetrabromobisphenol-A) leached in curing water of RPAs was quantified using extraction with an organic solvent and gas chromatography methods (CG-FID). A clear relationship can be established between the characteristics of the stabilizing additive used and the amount of tetrabromobisphenol-A and bisphenol-A leached. The additive used was activated carbon, which in a manufacture scale may be provided by different suppliers with different mesoporous characteristics, which can be easily determined by the iodine number. The analysis proposed can be an effective way to determine if a particular activated carbon can be used as stabilizing additive in the production of RPAs with the developed technology.