Chemical markings, recycled products

Apple Computer has banned the use of various chemicals in its products, including PB-DEs. It prohibits any PVC parts or packaging of more than 25 g, except for closures for cables and wires. Several of its computers use recyclable polycarbonate for the enclosure. Large mechanical plastic parts are made of a single material or of compatible materials and marked with resin identification codes to facilitate recycling. ... 

In 1975, the total world tin production was 236,000 tons, of which 72% was produced by China (10%), Indonesia (8%), Malaysia (35%), Thailand (7%), and 6% each by the U.K. and the former Soviet Union (WHO 1980). Annual mine production of tin in the United States is a comparatively low 3300 metric tons (USPHS 1992). The world production of recycled tin was about 20,000 tons, of which France produced about half (WHO 1980). About 25% of the tin used in the United States is recovered from scrap materials containing tin. This secondary production occurs in the United States at 7 detinning plants and 162 processing plants (USPHS 1992). The production and consumption of tin chemicals, especially organotins, has increased markedly in the past several decades (Table 8.2). 

Manufacturers produce more than 8 billion pounds of BPA every year, making it one of the most common industrial chemicals produced worldwide (Rubin 2011). Plastics made with BPA are used in many consumer products, including food and beverage containers, toys, eyeglasses, computers, kitchen appliances, and medical equipment. Epoxy resins containing the chemical are used in dental work and in metal coatings for food cans, pipes, cars, dairy equipment, office equipment, and other metal products. BPA and its derivatives are also used in flame retardants (tetrabromobisphenol A), in engineering applications such as laminates for printed circuit boards, and as color developers in thermal receipt paper (Birnbaum et al. 2012). Some, but not all, plastics that are marked with recycle codes 3 or 7 may be made with BPA. 

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