Environmental Concerns of Plating on Plastics process

Plating on plastics is one of the main plating processes that is currently used to achieve the metallization of plastic substrates. However, this process is associated with several environmental concerns. Specifically:

1. The use of hexavalent chromium, a toxic and carcinogenic chemical that is commonly used in electroplating processes. Hexavalent chromium rises occupational health issues, being particularly harmful to human health, but also to the environment when is not being handled and disposed properly. As the recent train disaster in Ohio made clear, toxic chemicals continue to impose a great threat to the environment and humans despite the efforts for risk management.
2. During the PoP process, a significant amount of wastewater is generated and contains heavy metals, organic compounds and pollutants. Wastewater treatment is essential before discharging it into the environment to prevent environmental damage, such as water pollution and soil contamination.
3. Another important aspect is the high energy consumption of the plating shops for the heating and maintenance of the plating baths, which may contribute to the greenhouse gas emissions.
4. During the PoP process, a significant amount of waste is generated, including plastic scrap, metal sludge, chemical waste. The waste shall be handled and disposed carefully, or it may cause environmental issues and imposes occupational risk to communities near the plating facilities.
5. The PoP process consists of many steps and during this process large amount of water is used for rinsing and cleaning the plastic substrate to be plated. The water usage may be an additional environmental issue, especially to areas wit water scarcity.

All these environmental concerns shall be properly addressed in order to reduce the overall impact of the plating on plastics process. The adoption of safer, more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices will mitigate these concerns. The FreeMe project aims to eliminate the use of hexavalent chromium from the plating on plastics process, by using REACH compliant chemicals and adopting a Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design approach.