Polystyvert expands its platform to thermoplastics and changes name to UpSolv

MONTREAL — On the sidelines of the Canadian Circular Economy Summit taking place this week in Montreal, Polystyvert announces that it is now extending its recycling by dissolution and purification technology platform to thermoplastics, making it possible to treat a wider range of plastic waste and decontaminate it, offering safe resins for many industries.

Polystyvert says it became known for its polystyrene (PS) dissolution and purification technology, which reportedly enables the development of a recycling solution for plastics that posed challenges to the industry due to its contamination. The recycling of contaminated polystyrene has now been demonstrated and Polystyvert’s first commercial plant is under development. This first commercial plant will try to allow the technology platform to be deployed even faster to new applications with proven technology.

The company says it is thus transitioning from a specialization in PS to a technological platform for recycling most thermoplastics. In addition to PS and HIPS (No. 6 plastic) and ABS, which are more mature applications, the company is expanding its activities to most polyolefin-type thermoplastics (PE, PP and PC), also known as plastics 2, 4 and 5. For example, thermoplastics are widely used, they can be found in shampoo and detergent bottles, caps of various containers, small household appliances, many automotive and electronic parts, and plastic films are all thermoplastics.

“With this repositioning, we are diversifying our business model to meet the needs of the market,” said Nathalie Morin, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our technology is attracting strong interest from various industries and thanks to the expertise developed by our team of researchers for more than a decade, we are able to quickly expand our know-how to other types of plastics,” she added.

Dissolution is a low energy-intensive recycling solution that is generating more and more interest. This approach removes most of the additives that, at the end of their life, become contaminants when it comes to reintegrating recycled resin into new products.

Polystyvert claims their technology produces a recycled resin that meets standards used in a variety of industries.

In the wake of this repositioning, the company is changing its name to UpSolv, in line with its dissolution and “upcycling” approach.

The name change will be officially made in the coming months.