Trinseo has announced it will collaborate with Coexpan to validate various polystyrene recycling technologies to develop polystyrene containing recycled content that is fit for use in the global dairy industry’s form fill seal (FFS) market.
Trinseo
Trinseo collaborates with Coexpan to validate polystyrene recycling technologies
With materials and input supplied by Trinseo, Coexpan will be testing recycled polystyrene across various technologies at its INNOTECH Center for Rigid and Flexible Packaging.
The dairy FFS packaging market, which has historically preferred the use of polystyrene due to its technical superiority over alternative polymers, has recently seen greater interest in alternative materials owing to misperceptions regarding the circularity and recyclability of polystyrene.
Dinis Mota, CEO of Coexpan, said: “We are very pleased to have established this collaboration with Trinseo, which will allow us to demonstrate the viability of mechanical and chemical recycling processes for polystyrene … As a global leader in FFS and thermoforming packaging solutions, working with Trinseo in this regard reinforces our joint sustainability actions … Having seen the crucial role plastic packaging has played this year in terms of food safety and hygiene, we view recycling and circularity as even more crucial … This partnership provides a unique platform that reaffirms our goal of promoting and achieving a circular economy model.”
Nicolas Joly, Vice President Plastics and Feedstocks at Trinseo, added: “We are very excited about the collaboration of Coexpan and Trinseo. This marks another major milestone on the way to seeing recycled polystyrene products on shelves. The unique recycling opportunity that polystyrene offers is now much more broadly recognised, and it is great to be able to collaborate with leaders along the value chain to further expand this recognition. Full circularity for polystyrene is imminent, and Trinseo is passionately committed to this.”
Trinseo’s full sustainability pledge in PS recycling covers mechanical, dissolution and chemical technologies with a clear commitment to close the loop on PS recycling.