Recycling polystyrene fish boxes

Expanded Polystyrene, or EPS, is widely used in fisheries for making fish boxes for transport. These fish boxes are only used once and therefore produce huge amounts of waste. In the Thy-Mors FLAG area, at the port of Hanstholm, one of Denmark’s largest fishing ports and home to its largest fish auction, 150 tonnes of EPS waste are generated every year, this is equivalent to 8 500 m3. In Denmark, some EPS waste is converted into insulation material, however, it has a limited added value and can be toxic when burnt. Instead, fish boxes in the FLAG area are generally compressed into large compacted cubes and transported to southern Europe to be processed.

Lars Steffensen, was involved in the collection of EPS waste from various fishing ports, which he would compress and transport to the South, when he discovered that with a special melting process, EPS can be converted into PS (Poly Styrene) pellets which have a large variety of applications (many types of plastic objects) and for which there is a strong demand from Danish industry. Seizing the opportunity to generate some real added value from EPS waste, and with a grant from the FLAG, Lars was able to find an investor to develop the first Danish EPS recycling plant for PS pellets in Thisted, about 20 km from Hanstholm.  

As well as acquiring the machinery necessary for the recycling process and receiving training for his team on how to use it, Lars also partnered with Aalborg University to help with testing the quality of the end product and making sure it was fit for the market. The first stage of this project will involve selling the plastic pellets to manufacturers, however, Lars is already exploring the sorts of plastic products his own company could produce in the future.