Summary
EUMEPS, the Association of European Manufacturers of Expanded Polystyrene fully supports the objectives of the new proposal Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation to prevent and reduce the adverse impacts of packaging on the environment and health. Ensuring the continued sustainable and responsible use of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) is part of our mission. The environmental advantages of EPS over potential alternatives have been demonstrated in multiple comparative studies, such as life-cycle analyses (LCAs). Over the years EUMEPS has been actively engaged in developing and sharing best practices and offering sustainable solutions for the EPS industry. EPS is the most widely applied foam plastic widely used for the protection of people and sensitive goods. It is a lightweight, highly versatile material, composed of 98% air, which significantly reduces the amount of resources needed to produce the material which results in a reduction of the carbon footprint of EPS products. Mostly applied in monomaterial packaging applications, EPS is excellently recyclable. In most Member States actual recycling rates of EPS packaging already exceed 50%, often based upon separate collection
systems. EPS post-consumer packaging is in fact recycled in practice and at scale in Europe in accordance with the criteria defined by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and has been so since
before 2017.
The EPS value chain is committed to further improve the recycling rates and recyclability. In order to further increase EPS recycling rates, EUMEPS has collaborated with RecyClass, and we have developed Design for Recycling guidelines for EPS packaging applications. Most EPS and fish box packaging currently in use already comply with class A (full compatibility).
Download our position paper to read more.