Pescafácil, a supplier specializing in seafood, has begun utilizing fish boxes crafted from Knauf Industries’ CELOOPS® material. This innovative material is produced from expandable polystyrene (EPS) granules, specifically Styropor® Ccycled® sourced from BASF.

Source: BASF

In the creation of Ccycled® materials, fossil feedstocks are replaced by pyrolysis oil right at the beginning of BASF’s value chain. This pyrolysis oil is derived from post-consumer plastic waste through a chemical recycling process and is allocated to the EPS using a mass balance approach. Through this collaboration, the three companies significantly bolster the circularity of plastics.

CELOOPS® Quality for Food Contact

EPS packaging is extensively utilized for transporting food, particularly in fish boxes, due to its exceptional isothermal properties that maintain the cold chain. Additionally, EPS provides robust protection against impacts and offers excellent stacking stability, all while being remarkably lightweight. Moreover, packaging made from EPS is 100% recyclable.

CELOOPS^® offers the same high standards of hygiene and food contact quality, but also conserves fossil resources and contributes to the circular economy. This makes CELOOPS^® a great and more sustainable alternative to conventional EPS.

^{Víctor Borrás, COO at Knauf Industries Spain}

To maintain the performance characteristics of EPS while enhancing the circularity of plastics, Knauf Industries has developed CELOOPS® in partnership with BASF.

Ensuring the Cold Chain for Fish and Seafood Transport at Pescafácil

Pescafácil now relies on CELOOPS® boxes from Knauf Industries for transporting its products.

Food quality and safety are our top priority, and securing the cold chain is vital to guarantee both. That's why we trust in the new CELOOPS^® fish boxes produced by Knauf Industries with Ccycled^® material. In addition to the well-known EPS properties like excellent temperature control and impact resistance, this demonstrates our commitment to the circular economy.

^{Mara Prieto, responsible of driving this change in the Purchasing Department of auxiliary materials, and also member of the Sustainability Committee at Pescafácil}

Styropor® Ccycled® from BASF as a Sustainable Raw Material

CELOOPS® from Knauf Industries incorporates Styropor® Ccycled® produced by BASF. In the manufacturing of Styropor® Ccycled®, fossil feedstocks are substituted by pyrolysis oil at the start of the petrochemical value chain, generated through chemical recycling. The PPWR’s technology-neutral definition for high-quality recycling further emphasizes BASF’s commitment to this technology. Additionally, national legislation, such as the plastic tax in Spain, explicitly acknowledges chemical recycling.

We are committed to continuously developing our products further with a special focus on their ecological profile. And it is of highest importance to us to support our customers in optimizing the sustainability profile of their products. We are convinced that technologies such as chemical recycling are essential to meet the recycled content quotas set by legislation such as the Plastic Packaging Waste Regulation, or PPWR for short.

^{Jesús Ocaña Corral, Product Management EPS at BASF}

At the end of their lifecycle, the new fish boxes made from CELOOPS® are – like all CELOOPS® products – 100% recyclable and can be processed through existing EPS recycling technologies or through Knauf Circular.