COEXPAN, a company specialized in the manufacturing of rigid plastic sheets and thermoformed products for the food industry, takes part as a key partner in the “LIFE EPS-SURE 2017-2020” Project, destined to the design of a new system for the collection, pretreatment and recycling of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) wastes to produce new high added value Polystyrene (PS) products suitable for food contact.
Cicloplast, a non-profit entity that integrates the producers and processors of plastics in in Spain, coordinates the EPS-SURE Project in which all ANAPE, COEXPAN, El Corte Inglés and Total Petrochemicals Iberica take part. This is a collaboration agreement that completes the value chain in the process of generating, recycling and transforming the plastic materials.
A pioneer methodology in comprehensive management of wastes in EuropeCOEXPAN contribution to the EPS-SURE Project will be a key element to verify the functionality of the new obtained formulations according to the usual quality standards in the food sector, analyzing its thermoformability, its preservation capability of the different types of food and its safe use as a suitable material for direct food contact. All this is happening thanks to COEXPAN long trajectory in the application and formulation of polymeric materials for the design of packaging solutions. The Project, which counts with a budget of 1.5 million euros for the next three years, has got a European Commission grant through the LIFE+ Programme, which supports innovative projects related to environment and nature conservation; a pioneer methodology in this sector that seeks to be replicable to other countries in the European Union.
A recycling project based on the Circular Economy principlesWith the start of the EPS-SURE project, it is evident the commitment of the collaborating entities, COEXPAN among them, to work together throughout the following years to show that it is possible to transform the plastic wastes into new packages and to reintegrate them in the consumption chain, closing this way the life cycle of the product. As Gonzalo Sánchez, COEXPAN Technical Director, states “we are very proud of collaborating with this ambitious project and showing COEXPAN commitment with the Sustainability, boosting new applications of high value recycled plastic as well as biodegradable and foamed materials”.
COEXPAN, Cicloplast Founder Partner, has been collaborating with Cicloplast for more than 20 years in technical projects that promote a more sustainable and efficient recycling and treatment of plastics in order to reintegrate them in a circular economy where plastic wastes turn into material or energy resource.
COEXPAN collaborates, apart from Cicloplast, with other non-profit organizations and associations, both at a local and at an international level, with the aim of promoting a greater prevention when generating plastic wastes, the assessment and reuse of wastes of all kinds of plastic materials.
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