Our Story

Epsilyte began its journey in November 2020 when Balmoral Funds partnered with industry veteran and chemist Brad Crocker, who brought a sustainability-focused, advanced materials-oriented vision to acquire Flint Hills Resources’ expandable polystyrene (EPS) business in Peru, Illinois. We all remember 2020. It was a tough time to launch a new company. Still, the team worked tirelessly to create an industry-leading company of scale, refocused on durable, life-sustaining applications, and solving customer needs for efficient, high-R value EPS with a sustainable mindset.

Focused on the next steps toward improving sustainable practices, in May 2021, Epsilyte added POLYSOURCE® to the business. This acquisition introduced Epsilyte to the safety helmet market and added innovative extrusion technology to Epsilyte. The extrusion technology is central to Epsilyte’s growth and sustainability vision. Piqua, Ohio, was already recycling over 200,000 pounds a year at the time of the acquisition. Immediately after close, Epsilyte challenged the team to grow the recycling profile by 20x to 4 million pounds per year. Recycling and innovation collaborations with the Piqua site are ongoing. These collaborations now include (1) meaningful environmental certifications and significant actions toward improving inter-company and post-consumer recycling goals and (2) increased energy conservation characteristics of improved products made possible by our joint site technologies.

To further improve the business profile, Epsilyte acquired StyroChem in October 2021. StyroChem has a lengthy history. Founded in 1975 as Expandable Technologies, the company was one of the first foam manufacturers for foodservice applications and a leading innovator of biodegradable EPS. This addition significantly enhanced Epsilyte’s marketed position on biodegradable EPS, and now, all Epsilyte materials designed and marketed for disposable applications are biodegradable and sold under the globally recognized brand, EVRgreen®. This acquisition also made Epsilyte one of the largest producers of EPS in North America, further amplifying our opportunity profile with respect to recycling feedstock.

Epsilyte now operates three production sites, employs more than 300 associates, and provides customer solutions in more than 16 countries.

Our Approach

As a producer of advanced materials, Epsilyte puts innovation at the center of sustainability. To be truly sustainable, we must find different and better ways of doing things. We must innovate in how we make our products, how our products perform while in service, and the end-of-life options for our products. We are careful not to let sustainability become a marketing function. Our Chief Sustainability Officer is responsible for both innovation and sustainability. Under his direction, the Epsilyte R&D facility innovates for sustainability. Our goal is to communicate sustainability efforts accurately and transparently, avoiding turning sustainability into a marketing program.

Within the universe of sustainability issues, the most material issue for Epsilyte is the environmental dimension of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG).

We are focused on minimizing greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, water, and solid waste during production. While in use, our focus is that our products enhance life by saving energy, protecting perishable shipments, and providing safety with our high-impact technology. Considering the end-of-life of our products, we seek minimal impact on the environment, investing in recycling and our biodegradable technology.