MOSCOW (MRC) -- Montreal-based specialty recycling company Polystyvert has closed a round of funding to facilitate the development of a full-scale polystyrene (PS) recycling plant, said Canplastics.
The round includes new investor BEWI Group, a European provider of packaging, components, and insulation solutions, and said to be one of the largest integrated expandable PS (EPS) producers in Europe with an annual EPS production capacity of 200,000 tons, as well as new private investors.
Existing investors Anges Quebec, Anges Quebec Capital, Cycle Capital, and Quadriam also participated in the round. Proceeds will be used to facilitate the development of a full-scale plant – a strategic milestone for the company to demonstrate the high level of resin purity reached with Polystyvert’s innovative proprietary process, as well as its excellent environmental footprint.
“BEWI sees great potential in Polystyvert’s technology because it has the ability to treat highly contaminated streams while remaining very energy efficient,” BEWI chief operating officer Jonas Siljeskar said. “We believe this technology could be a game-changer for using recycled material in food packaging."
As per MRC, The Dutch company BEWI Synbra completed scheduled repairs at its expanded polystyrene (EPS) production facility in Porvoo (Porvoo, Finland). BEWI Synbra closed the plant consisting of two lines with a total capacity of 110,000 tonnes of EPS per year for scheduled repairs in early March. The scheduled works were completed on 18 March.
As per MRC's ScanPlast, Russia's estimated consumption of polystyrene (PS) and styrene plastics totalled 187,320 tonnes in the first four months of 2021, up by 20% year on year. April estimated consumption of PS and styrene plastics was 49,370 tonnes, up by 35% year on year (36,620 tonnes a year earlier). PS production rose in January-April 2021 by 6% year on year. Russian producers manufactured 179,840 tonnes of material over the stated period.
Founded in 2011, Polystyvert has developed a low-carbon-footprint process to recycle polystyrene based on a dissolution technology. Once dissolved, the process can mechanically and chemically separate contaminants and additives – including a wide range of hard-to-remove contaminants such as pigments and brominated flame-retardants – before finally separating the original polymer from the solvent. The end-product is then a cleaned polymer that can be used as new raw material resin again, to manufacture various categories of PS products, including food-grade applications.
MRC