• New material starts shipping immediately
• Available for a broad range of applications including food contact
• Breakthrough solution for post-consumer material (PCR)

INEOS Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, has today announced the availability of mechanically recycled polystyrene in EMEA. Production of the new “Styrolution^® PS ECO 440” is based on TOMRA’s high-quality NIR[1] sorting process delivering a polystyrene purity of more than 99.9%. The new material is available in white and light grey.

This new polystyrene solution is suitable across a wide range of applications including food contact. It will enable customers to address their respective sustainability goals and contribute to the development of a circular economy. Styrolution^® PS ECO is not only made from recycled material, it is also fully recyclable. This means the material offers true circularity with no need to downcycle.

The first available grade is Styrolution^® PS ECO 440 MR100 WHITE. The suffix “MR100” indicates that the material contains 100% post-consumer recycled content.

INEOS Styrolution follows the concept of using Styrolution^® PS ECO material behind a functional barrier making the material suitable for food contact applications such as XPS foam food packaging trays. The concept, which conforms with requirements under FC Regulation (EU) No 10/2011, is based on a layer of virgin polystyrene enclosing the recycled polystyrene.

Dr. Frank Eisenträger, Product Director PS EMEA, INEOS Styrolution says: “We will start production in EMEA with up to 1,000 tonnes in 2021, working very hard to grow volumes in line with our pledge to use on average 30% recycled content in products destined for polystyrene packaging in Europe by 2025.”

Jürgen Priesters, SVP, Circular Economy at TOMRA adds: “As the strategic partner in driving transformation, we are excited to contribute to a unique solution offering true circularity of polystyrene”

The new mechanically recycled polystyrene confirms once again that polystyrene is indeed made for recycling. The new solution complements INEOS Styrolution’s ambitious efforts to commercialise recycled polystyrene based on advanced recycling technologies.[2]

About TOMRA

TOMRA was founded on an innovation in 1972 that began with the design, manufacturing and sale of reverse vending machines (RVMs) for automated collection of used beverage containers. Today TOMRA provides technology-led solutions that enable the circular economy with advanced collection and sorting systems that optimize resource recovery and minimize waste in the food, recycling and, mining industries and is committed to building a more sustainable future.

TOMRA has ~100,000 installations in over 80 markets worldwide and had total revenues of ~9.9 billion NOK in 2020. The Group employs ~4,300 globally and is publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE: TOM). For further information about TOMRA, please see www.tomra.com

Follow INEOS Styrolution on Twitter (@styrolution).

[1] NIR: Near Infrared

[2] For more information see http://www.ineos-styrolution.com/news/INEOS-Styrolution-Recycling-Technologies-and-Trinseo-progress-plans-for-the-first-polystyrene-recycling-plant-in-Europe (EMEA) or http://www.ineos-styrolution.com/news/INEOS-Styrolution-and-AmSty-announce-joint-facility-for-advanced-recycling-of-polystyrene-in-Channahon-Illinois-using-Agilyx-technology (Americas)