EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE (EPS) RECYCLING: AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY PROCESS TO RECOVER DISSOLVED POLYSTYRENE (PS) USING WASTE COOKING SOYBEAN OIL

• Published in: Holos (Natal, RN) Vol. 39; no. 5; pp. 1 - 13
• Main Authors: Da Silva, M F B, De Campos, A, Ferreira, D C, Rocha, V C, Lemos, D A, Gonçalves, J C S I, Poleto, C, Da Luz, M S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Natal Instituto Federal de Educacao Ciencia e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte 01-01-2023
• Subjects: Building materials; Composite materials; Construction materials; Cooking; Energy consumption; Environmental impact; Fourier transforms; Gypsum; Hydrocarbons; Infrared analysis; Insulation; Landfill; Lightweight concretes; Methods; Polymers; Polystyrene resins; Raw materials; Recycling; Scanning electron microscopy; Solid wastes; Solvents; Soybeans; Styrofoam; Thermogravimetric analysis; Vegetable oils; Waterproofing
• ISSN: 1518-1634; 1807-1600
• DOI: 10.15628/holos.2023.16351

The chemical, thermal, and morphological properties of the obtained material were characterized by the techniques; Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), X Ray diffraction (XRD), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). [...]managing EPS waste involves certain difficulties; the low mass/volume ratio of EPS waste leads to a high cost of transport and storage, which discourages interest in recycling it. Additionally, EPS waste has commonly been recycled and added to other materials, such as: wood plastic composites made from post-used polystyrene foam (Koay et al., 2018); wood plastic composites made from post-used dissolved polystyrene packing (Agoua et al., 2013); wood plastic composites using recycled expanded polystyrene and wood flour (Poletto, 2011); the development of rice husk-plastic composites for building materials (Choi et al., 2006); composites made from cement dust and polystyrene waste that can be used as building construction materials (Asaad and Tawfik, 2011); crumbled recycled foam polystyrene waste that can be used to produce the filler in concrete (Laukautis et al., 2005); composite material for building of popular houses, based on Styrofoam (polystyrene) and gypsum (Macedo et al., 2011); use of expanded polystyrene waste in the creation of waterproofing paint (Bellon et al., 2019); recovery and incorporation of expanded polystyrene solid waste in lightweight concrete (Espinoza-Merchan et al., 2020); producing multi-strength grade lightweight concrete containing expanded polyethylene beads (Sadrmomtazi et al., 2012); and a polystyrene/concrete composite as a structural thermal insulating material (Makhmud and Alexander, 2017). The raw material was crushed into small pellets in order to produce a homogeneous material (the average particle size was approximately 4 mm).