Our Circularity Journey: How Collaboration is Powering Polystyrene Recycling

 By Richard Shaw, Director – Sustainability & Circular Economy

When I reflect on the circularity journey at AmSty, it's been an evolution – and a very intentional one. A pioneer in the innovation of polystyrene recycling, AmSty has continued blazing new trails to advance the conversation from "can we recycle?" to "how do we scale it?"

We're at a pivotal moment for the entire polystyrene industry and are poised to break through from thinking in silos to instead collaborating across the value chain to capture incredible advancements. Our successful launch of the Polystyrene Recycling Alliance (PSRA) in close cooperation with industry peers is rapidly delivering circularity improvements and challenging previous perceptions.

I'll expand on that more but first want to acknowledge key milestones that propelled our journey to this point.

Can We Recycle?

To answer the question "can we recycle polystyrene?" AmSty stepped forward 13 years ago with dissolution technology at our Allyn's Point, Conn., polystyrene facility to recycle post-use polystyrene into new resin FDA-approved resin for food contact applications. Building on that success, we launched a joint venture, Regenyx, in partnership with Agilyx to stand up a proof-of-concept advanced recycling facility in Oregon seven years ago to transform a wide variety of post-use polystyrene formats into new resin with the same quality as virgin polystyrene.

After demonstrating polystyrene recyclability with a variety of technologies, we next had to tackle the question of "how can we believe you when you claim it's recycled?." AmSty once again stepped forward as the first U.S. plastics company to engage the ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) organization – a globally recognized certifying body – to adapt their ISCC PLUS chain-of-custody standard for recycled plastic in the US.

What followed is nothing short of amazing, as hundreds of companies embraced ISCC PLUS certification over the last several years to bring third party-audited verification and transparency to the recycled plastics supply chain.

How Do We Scale It?

With this milestone achieved, the next big question became "how do we scale it?" The obvious outcome of scaling something like polystyrene recycling is to make it broadly available, economically viable and widely recognized. To accomplish that vision, it became clear we needed robust collaboration and cooperation across the polystyrene value chain.

Enter PSRA, the next milestone on our circularity journey.

AmSty stepped up again and partnered with INEOS Styrolution to recruit 14 other companies into the Polysytrene Recycling Alliance (PSRA) and go-live in January 2025 under the umbrella of the Plastics Industries Association (PLASTICS) as a self-funded group dedicated to accelerating the pace of polystyrene circularity across North America.

As PSRA embarked on its mission to accelerate polystyrene circularity, it was imperative to get grounded in the facts and establish a baseline for improvement. How many people have access to polystyrene recycling? How many end markets are there that will utilize recycled polystyrene for new products, and where are they located?

To get a straight answer on these questions, PSRA partnered with Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) – a highly respected, independent recycling expert – to research the current state of polystyrene recycling.

RRS found that over 100 million Americans have access to recycle one or more formats of polystyrene, with several formats in a range typically considered as "Check Locally," meaning it's not yet considered widely recycled, but it's also incorrect to say that it's not recyclable. (Check with your local recycling program because there's a good chance it's accepted.)

Recycling access is a starting point. We also need end markets that will transform recycled polystyrene into new products. RRS found that for expanded polystyrene (EPS), there is already a "robust" network of end markets across the U.S. and Canada, and a "solid backbone" of end markets for non-foam, rigid polystyrene. Most of these end markets mechanically recycle polystyrene.

The Power of Collaboration

Encouraged by this positive news, PSRA reached out across North America to partner with groups who also want to accelerate recycling. As we collaborated, we discovered opportunities to connect end markets to sources of post-use polystyrene by solving basic infrastructure and capacity challenges, like collection bins, densifiers, trucks and trailers. PSRA invested in several projects to bring more recycling to life, including locations in Colorado, Baltimore, Nashville and Mexico.

Coupled with PSRA's investment strategy was also an active outreach program to stakeholders committed to improving plastic recycling to mutually share information about polystyrene recycling, from foundational facts to challenges and opportunities. Through this ongoing collaboration, we learned important perspectives, and some stakeholders evolved their point of view as well. A notable example is the U.S. Plastics Pact removing EPS Transport Packaging from their List of Problematic Materials because they recognized that format's strong circularity record comprised of recycling access, rates and end markets.

At AmSty, we are proud of our peers in PSRA who helped bring these accomplishments to life with their ongoing engagement, expertise and support. This success also reminds us of the power of collaboration and how essential it is to overcome complex challenges that can't be solved by thinking and acting in silos.

Together, we are powering polystyrene recycling toward a bright future.