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A mini-review on expanded polystyrene waste recycling and its applications
Summary
This mini-review summarizes recycling technologies and emerging applications for expanded polystyrene waste, examining mechanical, chemical, and dissolution recycling methods and their practical feasibility for diverting EPS from landfill in both developed and developing countries.
Over the years, waste recycling has been a growing concern among many nations of the world, especially in developing countries. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is used in electrical/electronic appliances as a shock absorber and constitutes a reasonable percentage of the entire plastic waste. There are three methods of recycling expanded polystyrene: mechanical, chemical, and thermal recycling; each of the above methods gives rise to different products that are used in different applications. Expanded polystyrene is used as a binder in emulsion paint as a replacement for conventional binders; as a component of asphalt used in road construction; as a component of wood plastic composites; as a blend with silica and in concrete to produce lightweight construction material. This article studied the various applications of recycled polystyrene waste from mechanical, chemical, and thermal methods of waste recycling.
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