Several manufacturers working together in the PS25 consortium have agreed to participate in funding a French recycling sector for polystyrene household waste.
Tubs of yogurts, packaging for meat and fish, and more: polystyrene (the main ingredient in Styrofoam, which is what people often mistakenly call it), is everywhere. To fight the scourge of polystyrene household waste, the PS25 consortium– which includes several major players in the agri-food industry, including Andros, Yoplait and Lactalis – have promised to contribute to funding the creation of a French recycling system for polystyrene (PS) household waste.
“The system will enable us to enter a circular economy and to reduce the environmental impact of PS packaging,” the members of PS25 explain.
Polystyrene recycling is a priority for French manufacturers, who need to achieve 100% recyclable plastic packaging by January 1, 2025, an objective established by the anti-waste and circular-economy law that was passed in 2020.
After 18 months of research and reflection, the PS25 group, which was created in 2020, came to the conclusion that the conditions are now right to found that system by 2025. With over 100,000 tons of polystyrene household packaging put on the market in France every year, “supply is sufficient to launch and develop a viable PS recycling sector.”
- Increasing Outlets –
The consortium goes on to emphasize the need to expand sorting centers, more and more of which are able to handle PS packaging. And finally, new and emerging recycling technologies are opening up exciting perspectives, “because they make it possible to guarantee recycled materials’ suitability for food contact,” thereby expanding outlets for them.Several polystyrene-recycling factory projects have been announced recently in France. Among them, Michelin has plans for a factory that could handle 15 to 20,000 tons of PS a year, which should be operational by 2024.