Styrenics Circular Solutions and Plarebel enter into reciprocal membership

• Membership will deepen cooperation on circular polystyrene
• Cooperation will focus on design, collection, including consumer behaviour, sorting and recycling of packaging such as yoghurt pots and food trays

BRUSSELS, Feb. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Styrenics Circular Solutions (SCS), the value chain initiative to realise the circular economy for styrenic polymers, today announced a reciprocal membership agreement with Plarebel, a Belgian non-profit organisation committed to fulfilling the circular economy potential for plastics.

Since its creation in 1999, Plarebel has become a reference in Belgium for anyone looking for information, advice and guidance in the field of effective recycling of high-quality plastics. Plarebel maintains a distinguished position in plastic value chains in general, including through its long-lasting partnership with Belgian household packaging producer responsibility organisation (PRO) Fost Plus in the first place and direct connections with other European EPR systems (e.g. Valipac, Valorlux), as well as with the Belgian plastic packaging industry. Furthermore, Plarebel co-chairs the Technical Working Group of the European Association of Plastics Recycling and Recovery Organisations (EPRO).

The reciprocal membership agreement is intended to draw this together with SCS' track record of developing a diverse portfolio of recycling solutions for styrenics specifically, together with its members and partners, in order to further scale-up these solutions along its value chain. It will contribute to optimising plastic recycling through improved packaging design, better understanding of consumer behaviour regarding separate collection, and sorting yields.

Jens Kathmann, Secretary General of SCS, said: "We are pleased to become a member of Plarebel and also to welcome them as members of SCS. This reflects our shared ambition, as well as the progress of circular polystyrene. It offers an opportunity to benefit from one another's expertise and capabilities to further advance the collection, sorting and recycling of polystyrene packaging in Belgium and beyond."

Saskia Walraedt, President of Plarebel, added: "We are delighted to welcome SCS, as well as to join them. Our reciprocal membership will deliver even deeper expertise regarding the circular dynamic of the different types of polystyrene packaging on the European market. We see the potential for powerful synergy, especially around the circular design of all types of plastic packaging, an area of great interest for European brand owners and retailers."