Antimony, its sources, applications and flow paths into urban and industrial waste: a review

Abstract

This paper investigates the sources of antimony (Sb) in municipal/industrial waste and the consequences of the pres ence of antimony in the input of waste.The average Sb con centration of the feed stream to waste incinerators is approx imately 42 mg/kg. More than 50% of the antimony originates from all types of flame retardants and approximately 35% comes from flame retardants used in consumer electrical and electronic equipment. There is a tendency to decrease the application of halogenated products (and thus of antimony) in flame retardants. Also, the other fields of application of antimony show a decreasing trend. There are no indications that a substantial increase of the concentration of antimony in the feed to municipal waste incinerators will occur in the near future. During the incineration process, the antimony compounds are only found in the bottom ash and fly ash. No volatile Sb compounds are present in the flue gas. This means that efficacious particle removal systems are sufficient for a complete Sb removal during incineration.