6

Recycling of Polystyrene

Dr. M. Naseem Akhtar

Center for Refining & Petrochemicals
 Polystyrene Types-Structure

Atactic PS Syndiotactic PS Isotactic PS

• It is only commercial form of PS. • It is a crystalline engineering thermoplastic • It is semi-crystalline PS
• The phenyl groups are randomly • Highly regular & crystalline • The phenyl groups are
distributed on both sides of the • The phenyl groups are present in regular present on only one side of
polymer chain alternating pattern on either side of the the polymer backbone
This random positioning prevents the polymer backbone • Tg=100C
chains from aligning with sufficient • It is currently produced under the trade • Tm=240C
regularity to achieve any crystallinity name XAREC by Idemitsu corporation
and is amorphous • Tg=100C
Tg=100C  • Tm=270C
 Polystyrene Types-Commercial

1. General Purpose PS (GPPS)

General Properties
• Brittle, rigid, transparent, low shrinkage, low cost,
excellent X-ray resistance, free from odour and taste,
easy to process
Physical properties
• Tensile Strength 2.30 - 3.60 N/mm²
• Notched Impact Strength 2.0 - 2.5 Kj/m²
• Thermal Coefficient of expansion 80 x 10-6
• Density 1.05 g/cm3
Applications
• Toys and novelties, rigid packaging, refrigerator trays
and boxes, cosmetic packs and costume jewellery,
lighting diffusers, audio cassette and CD cases.
 Polystyrene Types-Commercial
2. High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS)
High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) is a rubber modified version of
General purpose PS. The addition of rubber (5-10% rubber/ butadiene
copolymer) makes it incredibly durable, with a much higher impact
resistance. It becomes soft and pliable when heated, and re-solidify
upon cooling
Properties
• The material can easily undergo manufacturing processes such as
vacuum forming, and easily bends and moulds whilst retaining its
durability.
• Its properties do not weaken once re-moulded either; making it very
reliable.
• Due to its amorphous properties, HIPS can be painted – making it great
for design purposes that require strong aesthetics.

Applications
• the thermoplastic is ideal for marketing purposes and is often used for
Point of Sale displays, handling trays, and promotional signage.
• It can also be used for thermoformed machine housing and parts, model
making and plastic toys.
• It is commonly used to make bathroom cabinets and enclosures.
 Polystyrene Types-Commercial

3. Expanded PS (EPS)
• EPS is prepared by addition of blowing agent (e.g. 5-8% pentanes). It is
often described as Styrofoam™
• Polystyrene foams are used for a variety of applications because of its
excellent thermal insulation, good damping properties and being
extremely light weight.
• It can be used as insulated panel systems for facades, walls, roofs and
floors in buildings, as flotation material in the construction of marinas
and pontoons and as a lightweight fill in road and railway construction.
• EPS has shock absorbing properties making it ideal for storing and
transporting fragile items such as chemicals, electronic equipment, and
pharmaceutical products. 
• The strength of EPS along with its shock absorbing properties makes it
effective for use in children’s seats and cycling helmets. It is also
compression resistant, meaning that EPS is ideal for stacking packaging
goods.
 Recycling of EPS
• PS has not obtained the same status of recycling as of PET or PE because of very low price
difference between virgin PS & recycled PS.
• EPS has very low bulk density. Therefore it needs lot of space for transportation or landfill
• Major source of waste EPS is from manufacturing, industrial & commercial operations,
where large quantities of foam are scrapped at a single location and recycling is economical

Densification of EPS

• Important part of EPS recycling is its densification or

compaction of the foam for convenient transportation
• Densification is accompanied with degradation due to hot
air, IR lamps or rotary drums etc.
• It is important to use hydraulic densification methods
without use of any heat. e.g. EPS pellets with d=40 kg/m 3
can be densified to 400 kg/m3
 Recycling of EPS
Size Reduction of EPS
• The size of scrap EPS is reduced to produce graded PS foam fragments.
• Depending upon the type of rotary cutter used particle size of PS foam fragments can range from 1 to
50 mm. The EPC foam fragments of different size are used in different applications.
Application of graded EPS foam
Graded PS foam as soil improver
• Graded PS foam of 4-8 mm size is used as soil improver. Fragmented PS foam is recognized as
soil improver as it promotes drainage, lighten heavy soil and improves water uptake of soil
Graded PS foam as composting aid
• Graded PS foam of 6-12 mm size is used as composting aid. The composting process is
accelerated by the incorporation of EPS fragments. The PS foam act as bulking agent,
increase microbial activity in the compost through improved aeration. The temperature
range for breakdown of organic matter is achieved quickly. It is important to mention that
EPS doesn’t rot even in compost heap
Graded PS foam as cladding for drainage pipes
• Graded PS foam of 25-50 mm size is used to replace gravel around the drainage pipes. EPS
cubes facilitate drainage, reduce water pressure on drainage pipes and prevent clogging of
holes in drainage pipes by the surrounding soil. EPS can increase water percolation rate to
300% than that of gravel.
 Recycling of EPS
Construction Application of graded EPS foam
Graded PS foam fragments can be used in various construction application, where they confer
weight reduction, decreased thermal conductivity and increased sound attenuation
Light weight concrete
• Graded PS foam of 1-4 mm size is used in the production of light weight concrete. The ground
EPS scrap is incorporated in the concrete mix and becomes encapsulated in the concrete
matrix on hardening. Through use of EPS the density of concrete can be varied from 1000
down to 300 kg/m3. This allows a range of building material of varying weight, thermal
insulation & degree of noise attenuation.
EPS foam as a cavity-former in Clay Firebricks
• Graded PS foam of 1-4 mm size is used for forming microcavities in clay firebricks to improve
thermal insulation properties and to reduce their weight. EPS foam is mixed about 1/3 rd of the
volume of the brick. When the bricks are fired the air-filled voids or microcavities considerably
decrease the bricks weight & thermal conductivity.
EPS-modified insulating Mortar
• Graded PS foam of 1-3 mm size is added to cement and lime to produce a mortar for
rendering brickwork and buildings. The use of ground EPS scrap in this application produces
no deleterious effects on the mortar. The mortar can be applied as an undercoat .
 Mechanical Recycling of EPS
• The waste EPS is sorted manually to remove any
contaminants e.g. paper, metal, soil etc.
EPS waste
• Polymer is then ground into fluff which pass through
washing & drying process
EPS Fluff
EPS
• Extruder is then used to compress and heat the fluff
Washing
Sorting Station Process

to 205C and then extruded through a die and

granulated.
Contaminants
• Generally scrap EPS is quite pure and can be recycled
simply by compacting, melting & degassing
• A major requirement in mechanical recycling of EPS is
that material should suffer through minimum shear Extruder
(function of screw geometry) and short residence Granulated EPS
Centrifugal Dryer

time.
• It is important to degas the melt thoroughly and
contaminants should be filtered out.
 Mechanical Recycling of EPS
Erema Process for reprocessing of EPS
• This process ahs been developed by Erema recycling GmbH.
• It can convert waste EPS into purified regassed granules ready
to use for production of new EPS Gasification
• In first step it densified using vacuum shredder to feed metered
EPS directly into single screw extruder
Dynamic
• This extruder has continuous screens to filter molten EPS. It is Mixer

also degassed through double venting system

EPS granules
• Molten EPS is transferred from extruder to dynamic mixer to Melt Filter
ragas the EPS sample.
• After regassing EPS melt is extruded through a die cooled and
then granulated into pellets.
• These pellets can be used directly in any new EPS application
• This process has advantage that EPS passes through only one
heat history.
 Solvent Recycling of EPS
• The scrapped EPS can be dissolved in d-limonene (solvent) derived from the skins of citrus
fruit.
• When this solvent is sprayed on the EPS, it is degassed and converted into gel-like material
with density, several times greater than its original expanded form
d-limonene
• The d-limonene has the ability to dissolve EPS safely without degradation of polymer
properties.
• The waste EPS can be purified by filtration of the gel through screen filters
• After filtration gel can be precipitated by addition of secondary solvent.
• The purified EPS can be separated by centrifugation and then degassed and extruded.
Advantages:
• d-limonene is a natural and completely safe solvent
• Since no heating is involved in this process therefore negligible degradation of polymer properties
occur
• The volume of EPS is reduced to 1/25th of its original volume and result in major saving in
transportation
• d-limonene can be reused several times
 Application of Recycled EPS

Packaging Foam
• Recycled EPS is extensively used to manufacture
packaging foam used for content protection
• The excellent shock absorbing properties of EPS
foam combined with low cost make it an
excellent packaging material

Loose Fill
• Loose fill (PS peanuts) can be made from 100%
waste PS and is used for a packaging filler that
surrounds objects in boxes to protect them
from damages
 Application of Recycled EPS
PS wood Substitute
• Recycled PS is being used to create wood substitute which can be used as
a replacement material in house building & furniture production.
• The extruded PS can be used in production of window frames, roof
trusses, door frames, & flooring.
• This material has almost same characteristics of wood in terms of both
look & feel

Sorbant polymers
• An interesting application of waste PS is to use as sorbent to absorb ion &
molecules of different substances from various media.
• The process consists of dissolving waste PS foam in styrene,
copolymerizing this mixture with divinyl benzene and finally sulfonating
the material with sulfuric acid. The resultant polymer sorbent as a s an
ion exchange resin due to the presence of functional groups with an ion
charge.
• These groups can form salt with counter ion. These counter ions can be Cation
exchange
Cation
exchange

exchanged with other ions of same charge. Up to 35% waste PS can be

incorporated into the sorbent network
 Depolymerization & Incineration of scrap PS
Depolymerization of scrap PS
• Pyrolysis is well know method to depolymerize PS & EPS
into styrene monomer.
• However the yield is very low because pyrolysis of PS
produces large amount of coke and gas.
• However pyrolysis of PS after dissolution in heavy oil has
been found to produce less coke & gas and higher yield of
styrene

Incineration of scrap PS
• Incineration of scrap PS with energy recovery is a
viable option.
• However burning of EPS in open air produces large
amount of sooty black smoke.
• The calorific content of PS is 46,000 kJ/kg i.e. 1kg of
EPS foam has calorific value of 1.2-1.4 litters of fuel
oil.