
The leading EPS maker Epsilyte plans to expand both production and recycling capabilities of expandable polystyrene (EPS) in the USA, according to the official press release. The company aims to debottleneck EPS production in Peru, Illinois, increasing capacity by around 25 million lb/year (11,340 tpy) by 2023, and to start an engineering study to expand the same facility, adding 220 million lb/year (99,790 tpy) by 2025. Epsilyte’s EPS plant in Peru, Illinois, is able to make 120,000 tpy now. The company also intends to expand post-consumer recycling capabilities at a unit in Piqua, Ohio, enlarging the facility’s ability to efficiently use post-consumer polystyrene as a feedstock to manufacture advanced materials.
‘We believe these investments are the most efficient way to increase North American EPS production to meet the needs of our customers,’ Glenn Wredenhagen, Vice President, Commercial and Supply Chain, informed in the press-release.
The EPS market segment has been growing rapidly in recent years. EPS would be used only for packaging applications 10—15 years ago. Nowadays, the bulk of EPS sales are going into durable end users, primarily in the building and constructions sector.