Trinseo and Coexpan announced their collaboration in the validation of various polystyrene (PS) recycling technologies to develop PS-containing recycled content that is fit for use in the global dairy industry’s form fill seal (FFS) market.
Trinseo will supply the materials while Coexpan will test the recycled PS (r-PS) at its Innovation Technology Center for Rigid and Flexible Packaging. The industrial volumes of the collaboration are targeted to come online by the third quarter of 2022.
Recently, the dairy FFS packaging market has faced increasing interest in alternative materials, owing to misperceptions regarding the circularity and recyclability of PS.
Dinis Mota, CEO of COEXPAN, commented, “The collaboration will enable us to demonstrate the viability of mechanical and chemical recycling processes for PS. 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.”
Nicolas Joly, Vice President of Plastics and Feedstocks at Trinseo added that the collaboration would be a key milestone for r-PS, that is now more broadly recognized. “The partnerships are key to accelerating the transition to a circular economy and contributing to the European Commission’s recycling goal,” he commented.
