Incineration
If polystyrene is properly incinerated at high temperatures (up to 1000 °C[42]) and with plenty of air[42] (14 m3/kg[citation needed]), the chemicals generated are water, carbon dioxide, and possibly small amounts of residual halogen-compounds from flame-retardants.[42] If only incomplete incineration is done, there will also be leftover carbon soot and a complex mixture of volatile compounds.[43][better source needed] According to the American Chemistry Council, when polystyrene is incinerated in modern facilities, the final volume is 1% of the starting volume; most of the polystyrene is converted into carbon dioxide, water vapor, and heat. Because of the amount of heat released, it is sometimes used as a power source for steam or electricity generation.[42][44]
When polystyrene was burned at temperatures of 800–900 °C (the typical range of a modern incinerator), the products of combustion consisted of "a complex mixture ofpolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from alkyl benzenes to benzoperylene. Over 90 different compounds were identified in combustion effluents from polystyrene."[45][better source needed]