_{Joint News Release:}
Pescafácil starts transporting fish and seafood in Knauf Industries’ CELOOPS^® boxes produced with Ccycled^® EPS from BASF

• Transport of fish and seafood by Pescafácil in new Knauf Industries CELOOPS^® boxes
• Knauf Industries CELOOPS^® boxes with identical properties as boxes from conventional EPS, contributing to the circularity of plastics
• Fossil resources substituted by pyrolysis oil from chemical recycling in the production process of BASF´s Ccycled^® EPS

Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Barcelona, Spain – Sea products supplier Pescafácil, specialized in seafood, has started using fish boxes made of Knauf Industries’ CELOOPS^® material, which is produced using expandable polystyrene (EPS) granules Styropor^® Ccycled^® from BASF. In the manufacturing process of Ccycled^® materials, fossil feedstocks are replaced by pyrolysis oil at the very beginning of the BASF value chain. This pyrolysis oil is obtained from post-consumer plastic waste through chemical recycling and attributed to the EPS via the mass balance approach ^[1]. By this, the three companies contribute strongly to the circularity of plastics.

CELOOPS^® quality for food contact

EPS packaging is widely used for food transportation, especially for fish boxes, due to its excellent isothermal properties which ensure securing of the cold chain. In addition, EPS offers high protection against shocks and excellent stacking stabilities while being very lightweight at the same time. Furthermore, packaging made from EPS is 100% recyclable.

With the goal of sustaining the performance properties of EPS, while contributing to the circularity of plastics, Knauf Industries developed CELOOPS^® together with BASF. “CELOOPS^® offers the same high standards of hygiene and food contact quality, but also conserves fossil resources and contributes to the circular economy”, explains Víctor Borrás, COO at Knauf Industries Spain. “This makes CELOOPS^® a great and more sustainable alternative to conventional EPS.”

Securing the cold chain of fish and seafood transport at Pescafácil

Pescafácil is now using CELOOPS^® boxes from Knauf Industries to transport its products. “Food quality and safety are our top priority, and securing the cold chain is vital to guarantee both", says Mara Prieto, responsible of driving this change in the Purchasing Department of auxiliary materials, and also member of the Sustainability Committee at Pescafácil. "That's why we trust in the new CELOOPS^® fish boxes produced by Knauf Industries with Ccycled^® material. In addition to the well-known EPS properties like excellent temperature control and impact resistance, this demonstrates our commitment to the circular economy".

Styropor^® Ccycled^® from BASF as sustainable raw material

CELOOPS^® from Knauf Industries uses Styropor^® Ccycled^® from BASF. In the production of Styropor^® Ccycled^®, fossil feedstocks are replaced at the very beginning of the petrochemical value chain by pyrolysis oil produced by chemical recycling. “We are committed to continuously developing our products further with a special focus on their ecological profile. And it is of highest importance to us to support our customers in optimizing the sustainability profile of their products”, says Jesús Ocaña Corral, Product Management EPS at BASF. “We are convinced that technologies such as chemical recycling are essential to meet the recycled content quotas set by legislation such as the Plastic Packaging Waste Regulation, or PPWR for short.” The fact that the PPWR is technologically neutral in its definition for high-quality recycling reinforces BASF´s commitment to this technology. Furthermore, other legislation at the national level, such as the plastic tax in Spain, explicitly accepts chemical recycling.

At the end of their life, the new fish boxes made from CELOOPS^® are – as all CELOOPS^® products – 100% recyclable and can be recycled through existing EPS recycling technologies or Knauf Circular.

^[1] More information can be found on: https://plastics-rubber.basf.com/global/en/plastics-hub/chemcycling  

About BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. Our ambition: We want to be the preferred chemical company to enable our customers’ green transformation. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Around 112,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio comprises, as core businesses, the segments Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, and Nutrition & Care; our standalone businesses are bundled in the segments Surface Technologies and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €65.3 billion in 2024. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the United States. Further information at www.basf.com  

About Knauf Industries

At KNAUF INDUSTRIES, we are experts in consulting, design, and manufacturing solutions using expandable plastic foams. Our products, developed with 2% expanded raw material (and 98% air), are present in very diverse and demanding markets. We develop circular solutions, as we work with recycled raw materials manufactured by foam cutting, molding, plastic injection, extrusion, and thermoforming processes. Our company is present almost worldwide: we have 38 production plants and nearly 2,000 employees. Our mission: We innovate to create lighter and safer cars, healthier foods, better-insulated buildings, and more efficient industrial components. Innovation, quality, a spirit of service, and eco-design are our key values. Further information at www.knauf-industries.es     

About PESCAFÁCIL

At PESCAFÁCIL we are a seafood processor specialized in shellfish cooking with over 30 years of experience and a strong presence in the Spanish, Portuguese, and other European countries’ markets. We import top-quality seafood from around the world, and then process, cook, and package it to be sold in major supermarket chains and seafood specialty stores. We count with a 6,000 square-meter processing plant and over 100 employees during peak season, processing over 5,000 tons of seafood annually. Since our beginning, we have used EPS for its excellent preservation qualities. With the incorporation of sustainability as a key element in our decision-making years ago, this component of our packaging was being questioned, and when we heard about CELOOPS^®, we knew we needed to incorporate it into our sustainable sourcing. More information at www.pescafacil.com