Styrenics Circular Solutions (SCS), a joint industry initiative to increase the circularity of styrenics, has announced its incorporation as an independent organization and collaboration platform.
Image: SCS captures the disposed styrene products and recycle them. Photo: Courtesy of Bas Emmen on Unsplash.
SCS was formed by four member organizations INEOS Styrolution, Total, Trinseo and Versalis (Eni) to enhance the circular economy for styrenics.
The four sounding members signed the SCS incorporation agreement to confirm their commitment to transform the styrenics industry by unfastening polystyrene’s unique circularity potential.
The newly emerged platform is expected to allow the addition of new members along with building collaborations with long-standing partners like PlasticsEurope and new partners across the styrenics value chain and waste management stream.
SCS would focus on employing waste collection and sorting partners to recover more polystyrene and EPS-based products. Advanced technologies enable recycling of polystyrene, EPS and other styrenics, so that they can be used again and again in quality applications and also for food contact.
SCS is making efforts to capture the maximum volume of disposed styrene products and develop the advanced recycling processes.
SCS secretary general Jens Kathmann said: “Today’s signing marks an important milestone of our voluntary pledge. The potential for polystyrene recycling is enormous. We know that polystyrene has an unparalleled capacity for closed-loop recycling, when properly collected and sorted. The SCS founding members are fully committed to our objective of full circularity.
“We therefore welcome partners across the entire value chain, including recyclers, waste management companies, converters and brand owners, to join SCS to link waste streams to our innovative recycling technologies.”
SCS says it aims to strengthen the sustainability of styrenic products along with improving resource efficiency within the circular economy.
In July 2017, an initiative to promote innovative recycling solutions for Polystyrene has been launched by PlasticsEurope, to support the European Union’s circular economy plan.
PlasticsEurope’s initiative aims at converting the collected disposed polystyrene waste into virgin polystyrene chemical recycling. The target is to generate good quality polystyrene to meet the most demanding standards, and eventually for food contact applications.