What is the definition of GPPS？

Release time：

Dec 30,2025

General Purpose Polystyrene's abbreviation is GPPS.

Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic aromatic polymer made from the monomer styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed.

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GPPS is clear, hard, and rather brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is a rather poor barrier to oxygen and water vapor and has a relatively low melting point. Polystyrene is one of the most widely used plastics, the scale of its production being several million tons per year.

Polystyrene can be naturally transparent, but can be colored with colorants. Uses include protective packaging (such as packing peanuts and CD and DVD cases), containers (such as “clamshells”), lids, bottles, trays, tumblers, and disposable cutlery.

As a thermoplastic polymer, polystyrene is in a solid (glassy) state at room temperature but flows if heated above about 100 °C, its glass transition temperature. It becomes rigid again when cooled. This temperature behavior is exploited for extrusion (as in Styrofoam) and for molding and vacuum forming, since it can be cast into molds with fine detail.

Polystyrene is generally non-biodegradable.

Polystyrene is commonly injection molded, vacuum formed, or extruded, while expanded polystyrene is either extruded or molded in a special process.

Polystyrene (PS) is used for producing disposable plastic cutlery and dinnerware, CD “jewel” cases, smoke detector housings, license plate frames, plastic model assembly kits, and many other objects where a rigid, economical plastic is desired. Production methods include thermoforming (vacuum forming) and injection molding.

Polystyrene foams are good thermal insulators and are therefore often used as building insulation materials, such as in insulating concrete forms and structural insulated panel building systems. Grey polystyrene foam, incorporating graphite has superior insulation properties. They are also used for non-weight-bearing architectural structures (such as ornamental pillars). PS foams also exhibit good damping properties;therefore, it is used widely in packaging.