Mar 16 2006
Two new trials which will explore the feasibility of collecting plasterboard waste at a number of Household Recycling Centres (HRCs) in England have been awarded funding from WRAP.
Gypsum Recycling UK (GRUK) and NTFW/Skipaway have been awarded contracts worth £138,000 and £192,000 respectively to carry out trials in different parts of the country. These trials will demonstrate and evaluate the practicalities of collecting plasterboard waste at HRCs, and further explore how the collected waste can be passed through the recycling chain and avoid landfill sites.
At present, there are very few HRCs in the UK that actively segregate plasterboard from other wastes. This means that plasterboard is generally deposited in the general waste skip or within the “rubble” section that some sites offer.
The intention is to demonstrate that plasterboard waste can be collected from such facilities, and then successfully recycled for subsequent re-use. If successful, it is estimated that as much as 30,000 tonnes of waste plasterboard per annum could be collected through this method.
GRUK’s trials will take place simultaneously at around 14 HRCs representative of a range of geographic, demographic, social economic and seasonal variations. GRUK will process the plasterboard collected to extract the gypsum, and this recyclate will be then re-used in plasterboard manufacture and other applications. The project trials will run until October 2006.
The NTFW/Skipaway project, due to finish in December 2006, will be undertaken simultaneously at around nine HRCs in Kent. In addition to the collection trials, the contractor will also assess a range of equipment available to process the waste, and will trial the use of the recycled gypsum in civil engineering applications.
Both projects will include an active awareness campaign amongst the local population, supported by media articles, advertising, and an internet-based information service.
Upon completion, the trial results will provide a ‘blueprint’ that other local authorities can quickly and easily adopt, including methodology, website pages and awareness-raising ideas. They will also provide other potential recyclers with important information on the quality of waste arisings, expected tonnages, and the type(s) of equipment needed to process the waste.
Julian Cope, WRAP Material Project Manager, Plasterboard, said:"At the moment, little is known about the potential for collecting plasterboard and gypsum waste from HRCs in the UK, although evidence from Europe suggests that the quantities involved could be quite significant. These trials are therefore essential to improve our understanding, and we are confident that they will spark interest amongst many other local authorities."