Category: NEPSA Updates

When scientific errors are discovered, formal retractions are issued. But what happens when the beliefs created by the original story continue to shape public perception? In a new article titled “Why Retractions Rarely Retract Belief”, NEPSA Director Chresten Heide-Anderson explores how psychological biases help explain why misinformation often lingers—long after it has been corrected. Using

The Nordic Expanded Polystyrene Alliance (NEPSA) has launched an open-access library of editorially verified case studies documenting how expanded polystyrene (EPS) is being recycled and reused in practice. The initiative is designed not only to provide transparency—but to inspire replication, collaboration, and system improvement. With over 50 cases at launch—and more added on a rolling

NEPSA will participate in this year’s Foam Expo Europe, held in Stuttgart from 11–13 November 2025, where Director Chresten Heide-Anderson is featured as one of the first confirmed speakers in the conference programme. The three-day conference gathers leaders across the foam supply chain, with key themes ranging from circular design and smart foams to the

Public discourse around plastic waste is often driven more by perception than by fact. In a recent LinkedIn Insight, NEPSA Director Chresten Heide-Anderson explores how confirmation bias — the human tendency to seek out and remember information that aligns with our preconceptions — shapes environmental narratives and policy debates. The article dissects a case in

RecyClass, a cross-industry initiative based in Brussels, has released its latest update to the Design for Recycling Guidelines, this time explicitly including EPS packaging—such as fish boxes and white goods—in both the guidelines and the associated Recyclability Evaluation Protocols (RecyClass, petnology.com). These refinements are based on 18 independent testing campaigns conducted in 2024. They examine

Polystyrene recycling in North London saw a remarkable 56% increase during 2024–25, rising from 6.87 tonnes to 10.74 tonnes—a shift driven by enhanced infrastructure and public engagement at NLWA’s reuse and recycling centres (RRCs) (nlwa.gov.uk). Over the same period, residents delivered 7,000 more tonnes of reusable and recyclable material—a volume equivalent to nearly 438 double-decker buses—to RRCs,

Buller District on New Zealand’s South Island has expanded its household EPS recycling programme from a single retail collection point to a wider district network. The scheme began in 2023 through a partnership involving Mitre 10, EXPOL, Smart Environmental and Buller District Council. Residents could initially return clean polystyrene packaging to a collection cube at

New Zealand generates around 5,000 tonnes of EPS packaging annually—yet 77 % currently ends up in landfill or as environmental leakage, due to limited collection systems and low recovery rates (sustainabilitymatters.net.au). Addressing this, Plastics New Zealand has released two strategic reports targeting EPS and construction‑plastics waste through practical infrastructure improvements and sector coordination. Auckland alone sends approximately 25,000