Closed loop PS is goal for new facility

Ineos Styrolution, Tomra and German waste manager EGN Entsorgungsgesellschaft Niederrhein have jointly unveiled ‘a ground-breaking project’ to recycle post-consumer polystyrene (PS).

A facility with a capacity to mechanically process 40 000 tonnes of PS per year is planned for Krefeld, Germany and is expected to start up in mid-2025. It is said to be a world-first at this scale.

EGN will build the plant and manage sorting and washing, while Ineos Styrolution will be responsible for the purification process to comply with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) requirements for food contact applications.

An agreement with Tomra to provide sorting technology and feedstock completes the project. Tomra Feedstock will collect post-consumer polystyrene waste from disposed food packaging and deliver it to the new site.

Yoghurt pots

Pierre Vincent, managing director EGN, says: ‘I expect the dairy industry to especially benefit from this new offering by allowing them to mechanically recycle from yoghurt pot to yoghurt pot creating a true circular economy for this material.’
Jürgen Priesters, md of Tomra Feedstock, adds: ‘We are proud to contribute to this first commercial-scale polystyrene mechanical recycling facility for food contact applications. Polystyrene has the right composition to be recycled mechanically for food applications.’
Steve Harrington, ceo INEOS Styrolution, calls it ‘an exciting step forward’ for the industry. ‘Our three companies bring complementary expertise to this project and, because of this unique collaboration, we will provide customers with high-performing circular polystyrene produced at a significantly lower carbon footprint.’