w061033

UK - The Versatility Of Polystyrene

01/07/1996

Despite the trend towards bottle banks and recycling bins, the sad truth is that most of the rubbish that is spewed from our homes isn't recycled at all but ends up in landfill sites - eyesores on the landscape. But new European Union directives will change all that when they come into effect in October. Member states will be expected to recover 50% of packaging and recyle 15% - all backed by legislation. The plastics industry has anticipated the move by launching its own reused products including recyled expanded polystyrene (EPS).

It is familiar packaging for toys and televisions but EPS can be used to make virtually indestructible objects - including roof slates and cricket bats.

SHOWS:

UK, RECENT

mechanical digger moving rubbish on tip

polystyrene

man putting "EPS"

roof-slates

cricket-bat

garden benches

cu polystyrene on conveyor belt

being melted

cu stacks of polystyrene after processing

Noel Salmon, Sanyo sot "Polystyrene is such a versatile material. We can take this material anyway, it's recyled and re-used - you can't do that with cardboard, you can't do that with fibre but you can do it with polystyrene and we are looking now at recycling polystyrene packaging back into our product - the only thing that's stopping us today is the availability of the material."

planks of reprocessed material

worker putting polystyrene in mincer

machinery processing material

pan various recycled products from reprocessed material

w061033

UK - The Versatility Of Polystyrene

01/07/1996

Despite the trend towards bottle banks and recycling bins, the sad truth is that most of the rubbish that is spewed from our homes isn't recycled at all but ends up in landfill sites - eyesores on the landscape. But new European Union directives will change all that when they come into effect in October. Member states will be expected to recover 50% of packaging and recyle 15% - all backed by legislation. The plastics industry has anticipated the move by launching its own reused products including recyled expanded polystyrene (EPS).

It is familiar packaging for toys and televisions but EPS can be used to make virtually indestructible objects - including roof slates and cricket bats.

SHOWS:

UK, RECENT

mechanical digger moving rubbish on tip

polystyrene

man putting "EPS"

roof-slates

cricket-bat

garden benches

cu polystyrene on conveyor belt

being melted

cu stacks of polystyrene after processing

Noel Salmon, Sanyo sot "Polystyrene is such a versatile material. We can take this material anyway, it's recyled and re-used - you can't do that with cardboard, you can't do that with fibre but you can do it with polystyrene and we are looking now at recycling polystyrene packaging back into our product - the only thing that's stopping us today is the availability of the material."

planks of reprocessed material

worker putting polystyrene in mincer

machinery processing material

pan various recycled products from reprocessed material