A new recycling system for expanded polystyrene using a natural solvent. Part 3. Life cycle assessment

A new system of recycling expanded polystyrene has been developed which uses limonene orange oil as a solvent to recycle high grade polystyrene. Life cycle assessment was applied to this system to simulate its effect on the environment. It is shown that the new system has a lower greenhouse effect (−30%), acidification (−58%) and energy consumption (−20%) than the conventional recycling system using thermal shrinking. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.