BEWI has announced that it has signed a letter of intent with Swedish Plastic Recycling to recycle expanded polystyrene (EPS) from a planned facility Site Zero in Motala, Sweden. The EPS volume from the new plant is estimated to amount to 1000 to 3000 tonnes per year.
‘We are proud that Swedish Plastic Recycling has chosen us as their EPS recycling partner. This is a groundbreaking development project, pioneering plastic recycling and setting the bar for the international community. In BEWI, we are determined to lead the change to a circular economy for our industry and this is an important step in that direction. It also nudges us closer to our ambitious annual EPS recycling target of 60,000 tonnes. We are constantly on the lookout for more partnerships that offer us EPS to recycle in our aim to reach that goal and close the loop,’ said Henrik Ekvall, managing director BEWI Circular.
Site Zero will be the largest and most technologically advanced plastic recycling plant in the world. The facility creates the necessary conditions for all Swedish plastic packaging to be recycled and become part of the circular economy –without carbon footprint. The capacity will be approximately 200,000 tonnes per year, which is a doubling of today’s capacity. On top of this, the new plant will be able to sort three times as many kinds of plastic compared to what is possible today. Site Zero will also improve the quality of the plastic it sorts and handles.
‘To recycle plastic is a complex task, not least because there are so many kinds that require certain processes and facilities to recycle. To reach our vision, that all plastic packaging in Sweden should be recycled and become new products, we need to make sure that more types of plastics are sorted and recycled. We are very pleased that this cooperation with BEWI will make sure that the EPS packaging will be recycled,’ said Therese Cederblom, sales manager Swedish Plastic Recycling.
The partnership between Swedish Plastic Recycling and BEWI makes recycling of post consumer EPS possible in Sweden for the first time. The EPS is collected at recycling stations by consumers and then brought to Site Zero by FTI, a company tasked with collecting packaging through its 5000 stations in Sweden. At the site, the EPS is sorted and packed into bales that BEWI picks up and recycles into new EPS products.