| By Scott Jenkins
Polystyrene (PS) is among the more difficult-to-recycle fractions of plastic waste, but could be a source of valuable aromatic petrochemicals, such as toluene. Prior approaches to convert PS to toluene have exhibited low yields and a range of products. Now, a group led by researchers at the Nanjing Forestry University (Nanjing, China; eng.njfu.edu.cn) and Tsinghua University (Beijing, China; www.tsinghua.edu.cn) has developed a process for converting PS waste to toluene in high yields and with excellent selectivity. In addition, a techno-economic analysis of the process indicates it could reduce the carbon footprint of the process and produce toluene at costs substantially lower than the current industry…