Airpop can be fully recycled

The Forum for EPS Recycling, EPSY, organised within the IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (German Association for Plastics Packaging and Films), and the airpop expert group have set the record straight that airpop can be recycled and is being recycled successfully.

In Germany the recycling rate for airpop packages is around 50 per cent and the industry is working with all participants in the value chain on solutions for the small volumes from the yellow sack scheme that are not yet recycled.

Expanded polystyrene (EPS), which provides convincing protective and insulating functions to sustainability in the first stage of its useful life, can also be used as a secondary raw material for recycling even after at the end of its useful life.

However, the “Guidelines for assessing the recyclability of packaging subject to mandatory participation in a dual system” published by the Central Packaging Registry Office (ZSVR) are causing uncertainty.

EPS is excluded from the group of good materials, and is thus by definition categorised by the Central Office as not recyclable.

The airpop expert group intends to further expand EPS recycling and actively shape the airpop loop.

It is supporting the development of innovative recycling processes such as the EU-funded PolyStyrene Loop and the Canadian PolyStyvert process.

“The classification of airpop as non-recyclable is based on purely commercial decisions by the sorting companies,” said Mara Hancker, Head of PR at IK Industrievereinigung and contact person for the airpop expert group.

“First, the quantities that find their way into the yellow sack are small, and second, the material delivers excellent results in energy recovery. This classification has nothing to do with the actual physical recyclability of the material.”