PSLoop Project: recycling expanded polystyrene foam demolition waste containing HBCD
PSLoop Project is an innovative purification process for recycling expanded polystyrene foam demolition waste containing HBCD.
This innovative project employs a ground-breaking technology for dissolving expanded polystyrene foam waste and extracting and recovering bromine from the restricted flame retardant chemical, HBCD. The bromine can then be used again to make new flame retardants.
Over the last years the expanded polystyrene industry has invested significant financial resources and technical support effort into the ‘PSLoop Project’, a demonstration plant in Terneuzen (NL) designed to prove that the proprietary solvent-based recycling technology can successfully remove the legacy flame retardant HBCD from Expanded Polystyrene waste. PSLoop has managed to continuously run their production process in the medium-scale demonstration plant, producing ‘LoopPS’ recyclate.
The project managed to fulfill the UN requirements for UTC (unintentional trace contaminant). This is crucial as it enables the recycled material to meet the regulatory requirement for use in EPS/XPS construction applications, and indeed the Loop PS recyclate has been successfully converted into new EPS raw material, and subsequently moulded into insulation boards. Hence it has been demonstrated for the first time ever that closed loop recycling is possible with deconstruction EPS waste containing HBCD.
The PS Loop technology has thus proven its technical readiness level for investment in future commercial scale recycling plants.
- Recycling polystyrene foam in this way typically cuts CO2 emissions by 50% (compared to energy recovery). This is an additional contribution to resource efficiency at the end of life phase for polystyrene foam insulation, on top of the CO2 emissions already saved by reducing energy consumption during the long use phase in the form of insulation of a building.
- PSLoop will help the EU deal with an expected 20 million tonnes of insulation material that will need to be disposed of in the next 50 years.
- In addition to being financially supported by the EU (LIFE), the polystyrene supply chain (made up mostly of SMEs) pulled together to raise the necessary equity to build the first demonstration plant in the Netherlands.