Green tie-ups: Polystyrene Recycling Alliance/Brave Industries to advance PS recycling in US; Saipem/Garbo recycling project receives EUR15 mn funding

The Polystyrene Recycling Alliance (PSRA), a North American coalition focused on recycling polystyrene (PS) and expanded polystyrene (EPS), has tied up with Brave Industries, a national consortium of independent recyclers with operations across the US.

This partnership aims to expand the collection and recycling of all types of PS, including rigid non-foam applications (HIPS/GPPS) and foam formats (EPS/XPS) for processing and delivery to responsible end markets for use in new products.

The initiative will launch in Denver, Colorado, and Baltimore, Maryland, two key regions at the forefront of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) implementation. PSRA will support the project with grants for collection infrastructure that allow Brave to expand their reach and capacity for collecting and recycling all types of PS. With Brave’s national infrastructure of plastics processing facilities in eight states, both organisations expect this partnership to eventually scale nationally.

“As we continue evolving toward a robust circular economy, it’s essential that all types of polystyrene can be collected and transformed into new products at responsible end markets, said Richard Shaw, Chair of the Polystyrene Recycling Alliance. “This partnership with Brave Industries is a big step in that direction. Our ultimate goal is to make polystyrene widely recyclable, and we embrace every viable collection channel and recycling technology to accomplish that vision.”

Together, PSRA and Brave Industries are demonstrating how industry collaboration and market-based innovation can accelerate polystyrene’s transition from a misunderstood material to a proven, circular resource, the firms say.

In other news, ReNova ChemPET, the chemical recycling project for PET jointly developed by Saipem – as lead partner – and Garbo, based on their proprietary ChemPET technology, has been selected by the European Commission among the projects identified to receive funding under the EU Innovation Fund 2024 call for Net-Zero technologies mid-scale projects. The total funding allocated to the project amounts to approximately EUR15.5 million and will be disbursed by March 2026.

The EU Innovation Fund is one of the European Union’s main instruments supporting low-carbon technologies. For this round, the Commission selected 61 projects across 18 countries, including four from Italy.
ReNova ChemPET entails the construction, in Cerano (Novara, Italy), of the first industrial-scale plant in Italy for the chemical recycling of PET, a material widely used in packaging, food containers and textile. The plant, scheduled to start operations in early 2029, will have an estimated annual capacity equivalent to recycling over 250 million PET bottles, which will be converted into new, high-quality raw material for the textile industry.

The project is based on the innovative ChemPET technology, owned by Saipem and Garbo, which enables the depolymerisation of PET into new high-quality material, even from coloured or complex plastics as well as polyester textiles, and represents a significant evolution compared to traditional mechanical recycling, thanks to simpler, safer, and more sustainable processes.

The Cerano plant is part of the collaboration pathway launched in 2023 between Saipem and Garbo, following the agreement signed for the industrialisation, development, and global commercialisation of ChemPET technology.

The project ReNova ChemPET also fits within Saipem’s 2025–2030 ESG Strategy and Garbo’s industrial vision, both aimed at promoting sustainable chemistry and materials recovery solutions, the companies add.

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