Sustainability Bites

Polystyrene: fighting the odds

The higher the recycling code number, the less likely that polymer is recycled. Thus, companies involved in markets for numbers such as SPI code #6 and #7 face a heady challenge on the sustainability front. And that’s not getting any easier during a period of anti-plastics bias exemplified in Plastic Free July.

One of those fighting the odds is INEOS Styrolution, which has a global footprint in styrenics, a family of plastics that includes styrene monomer and #6-coded polystyrene, among others. PS and expanded PS (EPS) are used in packaging, building and construction, and other markets. 

Justin Riney, Sustainability Commercial Manager Americas, discloses developments, recycling, and legislative challenges in polystyrene in this exclusive Q&A.

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