LAUSR

The reincorporation of post-consumer recycled gypsum has recently started to be implemented in plasterboard manufacturing by the European gypsum industry. Plasterboard manufacturing in Europe, despite its energy intensiveness, has practically reached its maximum energy efficiency levels, with little or no room for further energy saving measures. However, the potential impacts of the reincorporation of post-consumer recycled gypsum in feedstock on a systematic basis and at high rates have not been evaluated within the strict scope of the process based on so far existing studies. In this respect, the present work aims to identify and quantify any such impacts on thermal and electrical energy flows, focusing on a closely defined scope that includes only the process steps potentially affected by recycled gypsum usage. The paper investigates the incorporation of recycled gypsum up to 30 % in Type A plasterboard manufacturing in terms of its effects on the energy consumption of the process, based on consolidated data recorded during full-scale industrial trials carried out in five large European plasterboard plants with typical production lines. The results show a marginal average overall increase in total energy consumption of 0.1 % as the net effect of small variations caused in the thermal and electrical energy consumption (0.2 % drop and 2.9 % increase respectively). The marginal overall result falls within a relatively broad estimated range of uncertainty of −9.1 to +10.4 % due to the anticipated variation of data emerging from full scale industrial trials, and cannot be considered conclusive. However, the analysis undoubtedly shows that recycled gypsum usage directly or indirectly affects the energy consumption of the process highly depending on process-specific characteristics and recycled material quality, leaving possible room for significant energy savings through optimization and accounting for process particularities, as evidenced by the range of impact results on individual plant level.Graphical Abstract