Ineos Styrolution Aims to Create First Large-Scale Home Appliance Closed-Loop Circular Economy System

A collaboration underway is expected to result in the world’s first large-scale home appliance closed-loop circular economy system. Styrenics manufacturer Ineos Styrolution recently announced that its ABS Eco grades produced from post-consumer recycled material by GER, a leading global recycler based in China,  have been successfully validated by  Midea for its range of sustainable household appliances, including air conditioners, refrigerators and water dispensers.

Established in 1968 and headquartered in Southern China, Midea is the global leader for household appliances and air conditioners, reportedly owning the most comprehensive white goods portfolio worldwide. At a recent event held at their site located in Foshan, China, Midea demonstrated the production of the pilot product using the new recycled material provided by Ineos Styrolution and was impressed with the ease of processing and the quality of the final product.

This first step is an important milestone for the establishment of a closed-loop circular economy system, by which Ineos Styrolution will produce ABS Eco and PS Eco grades using Midea’s products at their end-of-life, after being dismantled and recycled by GER. These ABS Eco and PS Eco grades, specially tailor-made for Midea, will then be used as a drop-in solution to manufacture Midea’s Eco home appliances.

The next steps are for Midea, GER and Ineos Styrolution to validate the use of PS Eco grades on a commercial scale at Midea’s production facilities, finalizing an integrated supply chain solution starting from Midea’s finished goods, to recycling after their end-of-life, and turning them into PS Eco and ABS Eco grades exclusively for Midea.