INEOS Styrolution, a leader in styrenics; TOMRA, a leader in waste transformation; and EGN Entsorgungsgesellschaft Niederrhein, a recycling company, announced a project to convert post-consumer polystyrene (PS) waste into recycled polystyrene for food packaging applications.
EGN, a subsidiary of the SWK AG, will build a green field state-of-the-art advanced mechanical recycling facility processing with a capacity to process 40kt of post-consumer polystyrene (PS) waste per year. EGN will manage sorting and washing, while INEOS Styrolution will be responsible for the “super-cleaning” purification process to comply with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) requirements for food contact applications.
The new facility will be located in Krefeld, Germany. It is expected to start up in mid-2025, allowing INEOS Styrolution to start serving customers.
An agreement with TOMRA to provide sorting technology and feedstock completes the project. TOMRA feedstock will collect post-consumer polystyrene waste from food packaging waste, and deliver it to Krefeld, Germany.
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. It is expected that a significant percentage of recycled food packaging material will be realized in a very short timeframe.
