TOSHIBA PLANT & CONSTRUCTION - Chemical Recycling to Recover Styrene from Styrene Foam (Early 2000s)

TOSHIBA PLANT & CONSTRUCTION - Chemical Recycling to Recover Styrene from Styrene Foam (Early 2000s)
The technology established by Toshiba Plant Engineering & Construction Corporation to recover styrene monomer at high purity from used styrene foam by processing it at high temperatures was born against the backdrop of the recycling-oriented society policy and rising quality demands of the market in the early 2000s. At that time, the amount of styrene foam recovered increased due to the expanded operation of the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law, but conventional material recycling, which relied on volume reduction and remolding, revealed the problem of unstable quality due to contamination and additives, and limited applications. Especially in the food tray field, hygiene and stability of ingredients are strictly required, and it has been difficult to expand the use of recycled materials. This technology has an advantage in that it breaks down styrene foam to the monomer stage and ensures quality equivalent to that of new foam by repolymerization. In addition, the high-
temperature treatment simultaneously reduces the volume and converts it into raw materials, thereby addressing the transportation cost issues inherent in bulky styrene foam. It is important to note that Toshiba Plant Engineering & Construction Corporation, an engineering company, has brought chemical recycling from the research stage to the implementation stage by converting its plant technologies, such as reaction control, distillation and purification, and continuous operation, to the environmental field. This case can be positioned as a leading effort to establish environmental response as an equipment industry and to realize material recycling with an emphasis on quality.