The 100% recyclability of EPS
In pursuit of environmental sustainability for the Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) sector, EUMEPS and its members continually seek to enhance the circularity of fully recyclable EPS materials. This is accomplished in two ways: the recovery and recycling of both used EPS packaging and construction EPS cut-offs, and through collaborative initiatives to better track and quantify recycling efforts and to spread the culture of separate collection for EPS waste. While EPS is technically 100% recyclable, achieving high recycling rates in practice depends on effective collection systems, high-quality sorting and coordination across the entire value chain.
Recycling: The Foundation of Our Environmental Strategy
At the heart of our sustainability efforts is our focus on mechanical recycling, a method that allows uncontaminated EPS waste to be efficiently processed and reincorporated into new products. This method is notable as the least energy-intensive form of recycling, offering significantly reduced environmental impact.
Mechanical recycling remains the most established and widely implemented pathway for EPS in Europe, particularly for packaging applications and clean construction cut-offs. Its efficiency and relatively low energy demand make it a key contributor to reducing lifecycle emissions.
Chemical recycling, on the other hand, aims to turn EPS waste back into its original monomers. This process offers a promising pathway to achieving true circularity by returning contaminated EPS waste to a state indistinguishable from virgin material and represents a significant advancement in our journey towards sustainability. Chemical recycling technologies are particularly relevant for more complex EPS waste streams, including certain construction materials, where advanced depollution and purification processes enable high-quality material recovery. These technologies are complementary to mechanical recycling and expand the overall circular potential of EPS.
Scientific evidence supporting EPS recyclability under EU rules
These technical approaches to recycling are underpinned by a growing body of independent scientific evidence assessing how EPS performs under real regulatory conditions.
A recent peer-reviewed study conducted by the Polymer Engineering Department of the University of Bayreuth provides robust and policy-relevant evidence on the recyclability of expanded polystyrene (EPS) bead foams. Published in Polymer Engineering & Science, the research evaluated EPS recycling performance under conditions explicitly aligned with the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
By simulating ten consecutive mechanical recycling cycles with a constant recycled content of 35% by weight, the study shows that EPS typically used in protective packaging retains its mechanical properties with only limited and predictable degradation over repeated recycling cycles. These findings bring clarity to discussions on recycled content targets and material performance, while also highlighting that achieving long-term PPWR objectives will depend not only on the intrinsic properties of EPS, but on effective sorting, advanced recycling technologies and careful control of key processing steps across the value chain.
The study confirms that, under controlled conditions, EPS can maintain functional performance across multiple recycling loops, supporting the feasibility of recycled content targets under the PPWR. It also underlines that regulatory success depends as much on collection and sorting infrastructure as on material characteristics.
Examples of EUMEPS Engagement to EPS Recyclability
EUMEPS actively participates in European standardisation to design recycling guidelines, ensuring that EPS products are manufactured with their end-of-life recyclability in mind. Lifecycle assessments (LCAs) represent an important step in the process, identifying and quantifying the environmental benefits of various recycling pathways and supporting evidence-based policy dialogue.
As a member of PolyRec, EUMEPS promotes the use of RecoTrace®, a system that allows member companies to record the volume of recycled EPS by the tonne, providing the industry with improved traceability and transparency.
EUMEPS is financing the Conversio Market & Strategy GmbH study, a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impact of EPS packaging over an extended period, providing the industry with data-driven guidance aligned with European environmental objectives.
EUMEPS also supports national and regional implementation initiatives such as créa-STYR in France, which aims to increase EPS packaging recycling rates through coordinated collection systems, stakeholder cooperation and optimised material recovery processes. This initiative illustrates how circularity depends on local infrastructure and collaboration across the value chain.
In Austria, EPSolutely is a collaborative project that has developed and tested a nationwide system to collect and recycle EPS, with a strong focus on construction offcuts and other more complex waste streams. Led by Fraunhofer Austria, the project combines practical logistics solutions (including a digital tool to coordinate collection) with recycling trials to demonstrate how EPS can be recovered and reintroduced into new products. The project addresses construction, demolition and packaging streams, with pilot trials showing that both collection and recycling can work at scale when contamination is managed early through structured take-back and sorting.
Industrial investments further strengthen the European recycling landscape. For instance, in Norway, in 2026, BEWI opened the country’s first dedicated EPS recycling facility at its insulation production site in Fredrikstad. The plant is designed to process up to 3 500 tonnes of EPS annually from locally collected insulation and packaging waste, which is mechanically recycled and reintegrated into the manufacture of new insulation products on site. The project forms part of BEWI’s wider European EPS collection and recycling activities and reflects increasing industry efforts to scale up recycling capacity in response to market demand and regulatory requirements.
In the construction sector, advanced projects such as PSLoop demonstrate how EPS insulation materials can be treated and recycled even when containing legacy flame retardants, enabling closed-loop recycling solutions for building applications.
Building towards a Greener Future through Recycling
Through initiatives such as lifecycle assessments, design for recycling guidelines, and strategic collaborations to further increase EPS recycling rates and improve its traceability, EUMEPS is setting a high standard for environmental stewardship in the EPS industry.
Recent investments in new recycling facilities, improved collection schemes and advanced depollution technologies show that circularity in the EPS sector is progressing from pilot initiatives to scaled industrial implementation across Europe.
By strengthening domestic recycling capacity and keeping valuable plastic resources within Europe, the EPS value chain contributes to industrial resilience, resource efficiency and the broader objectives of the European circular economy framework.