Pictured here, Guoliang Liu and Zhen Xu upcycled polystyrene waste by exposing it to UV light and adding an organic compound called dichloromethane to produce a valuable chemical called ...

Michael Timko, Ph.D., Professor of Chemical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, adds, "Our analysis finds polystyrene to be an ideal candidate for a chemical recycling process.

Polystyrene has been turned into a valuable chemical found in seaweed – by exposing it to sunlight. The indestructible plastic is found in everything from takeaway containers to TV packaging.

"Polystyrene is completely misunderstood," Vaillancourt says. "It is the highest utility polymer ever created and the most compatible with today's chemical recycling process." ...

Guoliang Liu at Virginia Tech and his colleagues have developed a method to break down polystyrene and convert it into a chemical that is far more valuable. The process is energy efficient and ...

“Only the amount of benzene recovered from the polymer is converted into the desired chemical. Unused solvent can be recycled to process more polymer feed,” Liu says. As a proof of concept, the team ...

Engineers have modelled a new way to recycle polystyrene that could become the first viable way of making the material reusable. The team of chemical engineers, based at the University of Bath in ...