Once completed the EPS-FISH project for the recycling of expanded polystyrene waste from fresh fish packaging, it has been announced that the objective set has been achieved, which was to obtain a high quality, odorless recycled material from waste EPS boxes of fish and other seafood.
These wastes were not normally recycled in Spain, nor in general in any other country in Europe, mainly due to the smell they present, which is more intensified when pressed and retained to reduce the volume of waste, due to the low initial density of the same.
With the execution of the project and through the application of decontamination technologies and methodologies, the initial odor of the waste has been reduced, which has made it possible to obtain a suitable recycled material.
To obtain this material, different techniques have been used that, together, have achieved good results: waste pre-treatment, intensive washing and extrusion with supercritical fluids (sc-CO2), mainly. The recycled material obtained has been validated by manufacturing XPS and EPS insulation plates, with suitable physical-mechanical properties for use in the construction sector. This last point was very critical due to the final application that required them. This situation allows direct marketing of the developed product.
This project, which has been developed by ACTECO PRODUCTOS Y SERVICIOS, SL with the help of AIMPLAS, the Technological Institute of Plastic, has been funded by CDTi within the EEA GRANTS call.
