Technological watch

To accelerate driving the circular economy for styrenics forward, three of the world’s leading polystyrene producers, AmSty, INEOS Styrolution and Trinseo signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) to jointly explore recycling options for polystyrene.

AmSty, INEOS Styrolution and Trinseo are committed to a circular economy for polystyrene. This JDA represents the first global combined effort to explore advanced recycling technologies, optimize them for commercial use and call for all contributors along the value chain to make circularity of polystyrene a reality. The three companies are aiming at an economy where post-consumer polystyrene waste does not end up in landfills but is recognized as a valuable resource for the development of new materials for future use.

Polystyrene is a unique polymer suitable for multiple advanced recycling solutions like depolymerization. Its properties make it ideal for a circular economy – even enabling food contact compliancy of the recycled material, often considered the holy grail of polymer recycling.

All three companies have done their own independent research and have invested in various projects to further the commercialization of advanced recycling capacity. This new joint effort allows all participants to share best practices and optimize recycling technologies for large-scale commercial use.