Expanded polystyrene - EPS for short - consists of 89 percent air and two percent plastic. EPS is used in packaging to protect all kinds of goods, but is frequently used as an insulating material in buildings because of its good protective and thermal insulation properties. Until now, the building material was considered difficult to recycle due to contamination with cement and other materials. The new PolyStyreneLoop recycling plant in Terneuzen is set to change that and prove the technical and economic feasibility of a large-scale recycling solution for EPS demolition material. The plant is also to be able to process materials containing HBCD; the HBCD, like all other impurities, will be completely removed, while valuable bromine will be recovered. Initially, waste from the Netherlands and Germany will be recycled and processed into new insulation materials at Terneuzen, but demolition waste from other countries will also be accepted at a later date. Currently, the plant is constructed to recycle 3,300 metric tons of EPS demolition material per year, and later it will also be possible to recycle extruded polystyrene and XPS there. The operator is PolyStyreneLoop, a cooperative whose members include more than 70 companies from across the polystyrene foam value chain.

 

More information: polystyreneloop.eu

 

Sources:

• Pressrelease of PolyStyreneLoop (16.6.2021)
• Photo: © PolyStyreneLoop