The Styrene Producers Association (SPA)
Who we are
Styrene is a basic chemical building block used to make polymers and plastics for many applications, from food containers and packaging materials to components for cars, boats, computers, and a diversity of video and communications equipment. Derived from petroleum and natural gas by-products, styrene helps create thousands of remarkably strong, flexible, and lightweight products. Many styrenic products have naturally high stiffness and this enables relatively thin-walled products to be made, with a corresponding reduction in the amount of material required - always an important consideration as we strive to increase the efficiency with which we use valuable resources.
Styrene is used in the manufacturing of polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and latices, and unsaturated polyester resins (UP resins).
ABS is a tough, heat-resistant thermoplastic. It is widely used for appliances and telephone housings, luggage, sporting helmets, pipe fittings and automotive parts.
SAN is mainly used in the automotive, electrical and electronics industry, as well as in household applications and building products.
Because of its excellent abrasion resistance, SBR is widely used in automobile and truck tyres. Styrene-butadiene latex is mainly used for carpet backing and paper coating. Other applications are in belting, flooring, wire and cable insulation, and footwear.
Polystyrene is widely used to make yoghurt and dessert containers and lids. However the product can also be "foamed", so people also come into contact with it in many other shapes and forms. Uses range from foam egg cartons to salad boxes, from coffee cups to CD "jewel boxes," and from produce trays to "packaging peanuts".
Special types of polystyrene foams are also used throughout the world in building applications, where the high insulation values enable buildings to be kept warm in winter or cool in summer with significant reductions in fuel use.
Unsaturated polyester resins (used to make glass reinforced plastics - GRP) are used over a broad spread of industries, mainly the construction, boat building, automotive and electrical industries. More recent applications include their use in large-scale wind turbines used to generate "renewable electricity".
The Group is chaired by Eric Faes, Shell. The following companies are members of SPA: BASF, Bayer MaterialScience, Dow, Ineos, Lyondell, Polimeri Europa, Repsol YPF, Sabic Europe, Shell Chemicals, Total Petrochemicals.
What we do
- Support and resource studies relating to potential health effects of styrene
- Provide regulators and other official bodies with information to enable them to classify and where appropriate regulate the transportation, marketing and use of styrene
- Provide input to the EU Risk Assessment process and the global HPV initiative
- Lead Responsible Care initiatives to maintain high standards of safety in transportation, storage and use of styrene.
- Advice and support on Styrene and Ethyl Benzene REACh Consortium.
- Equivalent support services are offered for Ethyl Benzene.
Want to know more?
Check out the library and visit the Styrene Forum website created by the International Styrene Industry Forum (ISIF), a site aiming to give the public easy and direct access to key information concerning styrene and styrenics plastics as well as providing links to the information already contained in the websites of the Association's various partners. Should you have any further questions, feel free to contact us.
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