07/06/2026
On World Food Safety Day, it’s worth recognising that circularity in food packaging must go hand in hand with safety, approvals and performance.
For packaging stakeholders, the challenge is clear:
How do you integrate recycled content while maintaining full confidence in food contact compliance?
Encouragingly, innovation is advancing rapidly. One strong example is the development of mechanically recycled polystyrene for dairy applications by INEOS Styrolution.
Through a multi-step recycling process, including deep NIR sorting, hot washing, melt filtration and pelletising, post-consumer polystyrene can be transformed into high-quality recyclate.
At the heart of this is INEOS Styrolution’s “super clean” process, registered under EU Regulation 2022/1616, enabling recycled polystyrene to achieve food contact quality, something historically associated mainly with PET.
Importantly, this is no longer just a concept. Adoption is already scaling, with commercial implementation demonstrating real market demand.
- Yoghurt cups were the first to hit the market using this material
- This was followed by sour cream cups with 30% recycled polystyrene now available in select ALDI SÜD regions
- The solution has been recognised with the German Packaging Award (Sustainability: recycled content)
Maintaining the performance of conventional polystyrene, robust quality controls and a significantly lower environmental footprint, these developments show how circular solutions are becoming a practical reality in food packaging.
At Ultrapolymers, we see this as a key step forward, helping customers navigate the balance between regulatory compliance, product performance and circularity goals.
Because with the right expertise and materials, it is possible for food safety and circularity to co-exist.
