Food Service and Packaging

From pharmaceuticals and food to electronics

Many temperature sensitive pharmaceutical and medical products use EPS because of its excellent thermal insulation properties. Strongly relied upon in the food distribution industry, EPS is ideal for long distance shipment of perishable foods. EPS is highly resistant to heat flow and the cellular structure of moulded polystyrene is essentially impermeable to water. Expanded polystyrene is also used extensively to keep food cold without the need for additional refrigeration, for example at fish markets, thus saving energy.

The average package can be handled by up to nine different people, passing through shipping facilities handling hundreds of thousands of packages a day… so the risks of the distribution environment can be great. Millions of manufacturers over the past 40 years have relied on EPS transport packaging because of its exceptional cushioning properties and strength. When choosing EPS, original equipment manufacturers realise cost savings across the board.

Styrene-based packaging is used to protect valuable electrical and electronic goods and can be reused, recycled, where recycling facilities are available in specific areas. One European company is turning rigid television packaging into loosefill material for a second packaging use; Sony reuses EPS trays up to ten times for transporting parts between the Far East and Europe; and Sanyo turns EPS packaging into new electrical components.




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