The poliestireno expanded, a green ‘material', further of ecological promises

The most ecological container is that that does not exist. However, when it is necessary, the fact to consider the environingingmental appearances in the election of the materials is an increasing tendency. And that besides will increase in plough of a responsible and sustainable consumption of the resources of the planet. However, every time it is more usual that the consumer receive continuously advertising messages of ‘green washing' by part of the business sector. This term does reference to the use of ecological arguments with mercantile ends. The ‘green washing' consists in putting of relief an ecological appearance (image, sentence, figure, etc.) to sell products that are not it really. In the area of the packaging, attain that the consumer have of an information verídica and objective on the environingingmental appearances of a material is very difficult.

The end of the container is to keep the qualities of the product properly so that it guarantee a quality and some hygienic conditions of the same until his arrival to the consumer. Use a container that keep the quality of the food during all the chain of commercialisation is the factor determinante in the election of one or another material. Of this depends that they keep all the alimentary properties and do not put in risk the health of the consumer.

In the case of the packagings of goods of consumption, the situation is equiparable. We have to opt by a material that adapt totally to the needs of the product and have capacity of resistance to adverse external factors. For example, the humidity, the capacity amortiguadora and of absorption of impacts and the insulating capacity in front of thermal sensors swings. In addition to all these properties, the material of packaging used has to be light, so as to abaratar to the maximum the costs of transport and storage.

So much in his application like alimentary container or for the embalado of goods of consumption, the poliestireno expanded (EPS) fulfils with all the already enumerated requirements. However, they do not have to forget his main qualities from the environingingmental punto: his reciclabilidad of 100% and the fact that in 98% was composed by air. To identify and verify the real environingingmental impacts of the packs and packaging of EPS, the sector carries years realising studies of analysis of cycle of life that allow to analyse objectively his environingingmental load. For this, have used norms standardised ISO that guarantee that the studies llevar with scientific rigour and technician through an external entity to the sector. Besides, of voluntary way, the companies and the sector in his group, so much in the national field as in the European and the international, work continuously in the promotion and optimisation of the productive processes and the final gestión of the residue generated.

Among others attainments, the sector of the poliestireno expanded has an agreement subscribed to international level for the promotion and the promotion of the recycled and reuse of the EPS. In the European field, the sector already has ‘Environingingmental Statements of Product' for his application under construction and in Spain has of a pioneering initiative, the Centres ECHO-EPS for the collected, treatment and reintroducción of the waste of EPS clean in the chain of production. Besides, like additional support to the Centres ECHO-EPS, and with the end to identify all the agents that treat waste of poliestireno expanded and the treatment that gives them , develops a network of public information where identify all the agents that manage the products of poliestireno expanded.

Basing in all this information on the poliestireno expanded, the consumer can have a clear and objective vision of which are his environingingmental properties. Thanks to this type of initiatives, the sector of the EPS shows his strong commitment, consolidated along years and years of work and effort in the optimisation of the process of production and gestión of the residue, attaining like this an efficient use of the natural resources and promoting a responsible gestión of the containers at the end of his useful life.