INEPSA
The International Expanded Polystyrene Alliance
In 1992 EPS organizations from Asia (AMEPS), Europe (EUMEPS) and North America (EPS-IA) formed the International EPS Alliance (INEPSA) to enhance global EPS recycling and environmental stewardship. Thirty-one countries around the world have signed the landmark International Recycling Agreement, pleding their commitment to global EPS recycling.

Our Goals
The mission of INEPSA is to unite the world's EPS industry through increased co-operation and outreach. It also provides a focus for the discussion and the dissemination of information about EPS environmental and solid waste programmes to packaging professionals, product manufacturers, government officials, association members and consumers.

The agreement provided three major commitments:
To enhance existing EPS recycling programmes and initiate new ones to foster environmental stewardship.
Promotion of national recycling routes
Establishment of a world-wide network to exchange information on EPS recycling.
Members of INEPSA:

گروه تولیدی ایران ورق

It is commonly understood that XPS offers more initial R-value per inch than EPS but because of its lower cost, EPS offers more R-value per dollar. It must also be noted that stated R-values of insulations products vary under different conditions and truly credible comparisons must take into consideration the specific brands of foam and specific test conditions.   

XPS cells contain insulating gases in addition to air that eventually diffuses out of the cells, thus lowering the insulating value. The Long Term Thermal Resistance (LTTR) of XPS is therefore less than its "initial" R-factor. The R-factor of EPS remains constant over the life of the product because the manufacturing process used in EPS results in normal air, rather than gas, in the voids in the product.

While XPS is "extruded" into a close approximation of its final form, EPS is manufactured in large blocks that are subsequently cut by hot-wire machines into sheets or cut into virtually any special shape or form by computer-driven systems. EPS is also easily worked in the field during installation.

Although manufacturers of XPS and EPS often tout the fact that their products can be recycled, a complete life cycle analysis shows that EPS has a better overall environmental impact when compared to XPS. EPS can be recycled in many ways once it comes to the end of its life. These include recycling directly into new building products and incineration to recover its inherent energy content. The choice of a recycling method is based on technical, environmental and economic considerations.

Finally, XPS is often branded by its manufacturer and frequently comes in a number of different colors which have nothing to do with performance. Since XPS is typically more expensive than EPS, buyers need to closely compare the tables of properties for each product as compared to the needs of the application.