Ineos Styrolution, a subsidiary of Ineos, recently announced that the company has completed the first trial of producing polystyrene (PS) from recycled styrene at its Antwerp plant in Belgium. Styrolution said that the experiment is only laboratory scale. It uses chemical methods to recover styrene-based plastics to make styrene monomer, and then uses these styrene raw materials for general-purpose PS production. The results show that the PS resin produced has the same properties as the newly produced product.
PS has always been considered a non-recyclable resin. Rob Buntinx, president of Styrolution's EMEA region, said: "Experiments have proven that polystyrene resins are recyclable. This is an important milestone that will help reduce PS waste. We are now looking forward to commercializing the process, which will help Save precious resources. "
Styrolution is one of the founding members of Styrenics Circular Solutions. The company launched an industry joint initiative last year to promote the transformation of the styrene-based resin industry to a circular economy.