Technological watch

Trinseo, a specialty material solutions provider, and GMP Group (GMP), a circular business innovations company in the Netherlands, announced jointly their intended concerted efforts in further unlocking the circularity of polystyrene (PS).
Closing the Loop for a Circular Economy
PS is a common material used in numerous applications, including packaging and consumer goods. Food-contact PS is an ideal material for food packaging, and recycled food-contact PS helps contribute to the circularity of packaging materials, especially when packaging waste remains a concern in many domains.
Trinseo?and GMP’s collaboration aims at providing a framework for cooperation, on an exclusive basis, the construction and operation by GMP of an advanced pretreatment or regeneration plant with a minimum 25kt capacity in the Netherlands.
The plant will purify PS waste and deliver high-quality recycled PS pellets via the Super Clean recycling process. The anticipated startup date of the plant in the Netherlands is 2024. There is also an intended execution of a long-term tolling and off-taking agreement.
“The Trinseo–GMP collaboration is yet another important move toward helping our customers reach their sustainability goals and closing the loop for a circular economy, and both companies realize that the most successful way to do this is through synergy along the value chain,” said Nicolas Joly, Trinseo’s senior vice president, Plastics and Feedstocks. “This collaboration shows our continuous efforts in sustainability marching toward our 2030 sustainability goals.”
“This partnership is an essential step forward in our strategies contributing to a healthier world and increased sustainability. Every day, we look for circular business innovations like valuing plastic waste by recycling it into new resources. Together with Trinseo, we can now develop, build, and operate a state-of-the-art recycling plant in Europe. This will increase the reuse of a substantial volume of polystyrene in consumer food packaging.Furthermore, we can provide other sustainability solutions and improve circularity in various value chains,” said Gerard Putman, general director of GMP Group.
The intended collaboration will see the two companies conduct research into other supply and processing opportunities, utilizing their combined technology expertise to help develop more sustainable solutions.
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Source: Trinseo