Ineos Styrolution, a Germany-based styrenics producer, has announced the successful completion of its first project using mechanically recycled polystyrene (rPS) in yogurt cups.
Since 2023, Ineos has partnered with Tomra and EGN to convert post-consumer PS waste into rPS for food packaging applications.
PS is proven to be one of the best sortable plastics in the waste stream and is one of only two polymers that can achieve food-contact qualities with mechanical recycling, alongside PET.
“Polystyrene has entered the champions league of recycled food contact materials,” said Dr. Frank Eisenträger, market development manager, at Ineos Styrolution. “This technology will enable producers to meet the requirements of the new EU directive on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR).”
The project used Ineos’ proprietary, super-cleaning purification process, a technology that produces rPS able to comply with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) requirements for food contact applications. The multi-step mechanical recycling process includes advanced sorting methods, such as deep near-infrared (NIR) sorting with object recognition, hot washing, flake sorting, melt filtration, and pelletising. The application of high temperatures and a vacuum pump to remove moisture and oxygen is crucial to the process, which is similar to existing methods used for PET.
The recycled polystyrene retains the same physical properties as conventionally produced material, enabling seamless integration into existing manufacturing processes, Ineos said in a statement.
In collaboration with Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller, one of Germany’s leading dairy manufacturers, Ineos conducted a consumer test in spring 2024. Several hundred yogurt cups made from the rPS were filled and distributed to volunteers at an Ineos canteen. The results were overwhelmingly positive: 90% of participants indicated they would purchase the product. Testers also expressed openness to aesthetic changes in the recycled cups, such as adopting colours other than the standard white.
Consumers can expect to see yogurt cups made from recycled polystyrene on Lidl supermarket shelves in early 2025.