Corporate News

Infinitely-Recyclable-Food-Packaging-Is-a-Reality

February 16, 2021
Unlocking Circularity – Infinitely Recyclable Food Packaging Is a Reality

Plastic food packaging is part of our daily life, especially during the pandemic when many people rely on food delivery or takeaway. It has always been a presumption that plastic food packaging is not environmentally friendly.

 

Circular Economy

Circular economy is a shared goal among consumers, manufacturers, brand owners, material and product designers, and essentially everyone in society. As a material expert, Trinseo is taking on the responsibility of sustainable material design, chemical recycling, and working with the entire styrenics value chain to make food packaging infinitely recyclable.

coffee cup on sidewalk

Unlocking Circularity - Chemical Recycling

Polystyrene is a very common food packaging material that is used to make yogurt cups, frozen meat foam trays, take-away coffee cup lids and other applications. It is durable, hygienic, non-porous, easy to process, economical and low density, which means less plastic material is required to produce a product with similar applications. And most importantly, it is an excellent material for chemical recycling, as its chemical property is extremely simple.

Through chemical recycling, polystyrene waste can be recycled back to styrene monomer. The concept is similar to when ice melts to become water, and water freezes to become ice again. Too good to be true? No, Polystyrene (PS) is one of the very few plastics that can be recycled infinitely.

sorting machine

Concerted Efforts

To make food packaging infinitely recyclable, the entire styrenics value chain has to work together. From polystyrene waste collection, sorting and recycling, to disposal behavior, proper systems and the involvement of different partners are all required to achieve this goal. Fortunately, the styrenics value chain is doing just this: working together to make food packaging infinitely recyclable, and Trinseo excited to play an integral role. Learn more by downloading a brochure.

Trinseo will soon participate in two events focused on plastics recycling:

Chemically Recycled Plastics for Food Contact

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Julien Renvoise will present at the Chemically Recycled Plastics for Food Contact event organized by the Center of Management Technology on 9 March 2021 | 1500 CET (GMT +1).

 

Go Circular - Transitioning the Chemical Industry Toward a Circular Future

event advertisement

The Go Circular virtual summit that's being help on March 10-11, 2021 will be 100% online. It is a two days conference, and all presentations will be LIVE. Julien Renvoise will also be speaking on the first day of this event.

Those who register to attend will gain access to business networking tools, participate in the open round table discussions, take part in the start-ups contest, be able to visit the virtual expo area and have the ability to schedule meetings with other event attendees. Go Circular will be a highly interactive summit with Q&A and numerous networking opportunities.

About Trinseo

About Trinseo

Trinseo (NYSE: TSE), a specialty material solutions provider, partners with companies to bring ideas to life in an imaginative, smart, and sustainability-focused manner by combining its premier expertise, forward-looking innovations and best-in-class materials to unlock value for companies and consumers.

From design to manufacturing, Trinseo taps into decades of experience in diverse material solutions to address customers’ unique challenges in a wide range of industries, including consumer goods, mobility, building and construction, and medical.

Trinseo’s approximately 3,400 employees bring endless creativity to reimagining the possibilities with clients all over the world from the company’s locations in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Trinseo reported net sales of approximately $4.8 billion in 2021. Discover more by visiting www.trinseo.com and connecting with Trinseo on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and WeChat.

Forward Looking Statements:

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, projections, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are not statements of historical facts or guarantees or assurances of future performance. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words like "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "forecast," "outlook," "will," "may," "might," "see," "tend," "assume," "potential," "likely," "target," "plan," "contemplate," "seek," "attempt," "should," "could," "would" or expressions of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements reflect management’s evaluation of information currently available and are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Factors that might cause future results to differ from those expressed by the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our ability to successfully execute our transformation strategy and business strategy; our ability to integrate acquired businesses; global supply chain volatility, increased costs or disruption in the supply of raw materials or increased costs for transportation of our products; the nature of investment opportunities presented to the Company from time to time; and those factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, under Part I, Item 1A —"Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our other reports, filings and furnishings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. As a result of these or other factors, our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Therefore, we caution you against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.