Key players in this success are Versalis, the chemical company of Italian oil major Eni; and Forever Plast, an Italian company engaged in post-consumer plastic recycling, who came together to create REFENCETM, the innovative range of polymers from post-consumer recycled product suitable for direct food contact.
Developed and manufactured thanks to the new NEWERTM technology, which allows for purification of polymers derived from mechanical recycling, the secondary raw material can be used for the production of polystyrene packaging suitable for direct contact with foodstuffs, without the use of a functional barrier.
After the success generated by r-XPS, this innovation marks a further milestone on the road to continuing sustainability, which commenced with the Pro Food and Corepla project aimed at developing an experimental selection and recycling supply chain for PS and XPS, which did not exist just a few years ago.
Gruppo Happy, as a member of Pro Food, is not just an observer of the progress made in the polystyrene recycling chain, but is an active part of it. Moreover, it constantly invests in research and development to design innovative packaging in accordance with the fundamentals of Ecodesign, for simplification of materials, reduced weight, and increasing use of secondary raw materials.
