Ineos Styrolution and food packaging supplier Sirap have reached an agreement to develop packaging solutions based on chemically recycled polystyrene, Ineos Styrolution announced 29 Oct.
The joint project focuses on the use of polystyrene that is recycled through depolymerisation, a process that converts post-consumer polystyrene waste back to its monomers. The process is claimed to yield high-quality virgin polystyrene ultimately for food-related use.
Ineos Styrolution and Sirap, which is specialised in extruded polystyrene foam (XPS) food packaging, are currently analysing first samples from lab-scale facilities, with a deadline to ‘bring circularity’ to XPS packaging products before 2025.
“The collaboration with Sirap, as pilot leader in the XPS food packaging sector, is a significant step in the right direction,” said Sven Riechers, vice president business management, standard business EMEA at Ineos.
“We are,” he went on to add, “convinced that chemical recycling is the way forward to produce high-quality polystyrene, while reducing post-consumer waste.”