By Katie Pyzyk, Waste Dive
The Polystyrene Recycling Alliance is calling on the U.S. Plastics Pact to remove two items from its Problematic or Unnecessary Materials list.
PSRA requests reclassifications of expanded polystyrene transport packaging and rigid polystyrene packaging, based on a report the group released this week that outlines use cases for those materials collected for recycling.
USPP will “review this new information accordingly,” Crystal Bayliss, interim executive director, told Packaging Dive via email. To date, USPP has not removed any items from the four-year-old list, she added.
PSRA had Resource Recycling Systems conduct the end-markets study with the intent to develop an inventory of U.S.- and Canada-based end markets for many types of polystyrene. The group aims to accelerate recycling for these products and noted that end markets willing to accept the materials are a key part of the equation.
PSRA says the study shows that both EPS transport packaging and rigid polystyrene packaging are “recyclable today, backed by growing infrastructure, expanding end markets, and continued industry investment,” according to a news release. The study results showed that 81 companies with 119 total facilities already handle expanded or extruded polystyrene foam, with 52% of them being manufacturing end markets that use EPS or XPS as a feedstock to make recycled transport packaging or consumer products.
