Chemical company Ineos Styrolution said the first truckloads of recycled styrene monomer (rSM) have been delivered to its site in Antwerp from waste management company Indaver, with the SM to be used in the production of recycled polystyrene.
Ineos Styrolution said it was the first commercial-scale delivery of rSM in Europe. SM is used to make general-purpose polystyrene (GPPS) and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS). The SM was recovered by Indaver using a technology called "Plastic2Chemicals" that relies on a thermal depolymerisation technology to break down plastics to their original monomers. The SM was provided by Indaver from its site in Antwerp, which can process roughly 26,000 t/yr of plastic waste. Indaver said that half of the recycled SM will be provided to Ineos Styrolution in an offtake agreement while the other half will be sent to polystyrene producer Trinseo.
Polystyrene is often seen as a hard to recycle plastic. Other deals have been inked for PS recycling in Europe. In June 2025, waste collector Green Dot said it was set to provide up to 20,000 t/yr of waste polystyrene feedstock to chemical recycler Agilyx, which would be used to produce rSM. At the time, Agilyx did not operate any polystyrene recycling plants, under its brand name "Styrenyx" in Europe, but it does operate a 200 t/d site in Chiba, Japan. Agilyx is still not operating any chemical recycling plants for polystyrene in Europe currently.
