But, they have said the statement only allows for a limited amount of recycled gypsum to be spread to land and are now seeking End of Waste status for the material to be used in much higher volumes as an agricultural soil conditioner.
The position statement, issued last Tuesday (February 3), states that recycled gypsum can be spread where there is a fertiliser need and allows rates of spreading up to one tonne per hectare in any 12 month period.
Previously, recycled gypsum could only be spread to agricultural land if operators applied for a special deployment permit which could cost over £1,000, which was not found to be commercially viable for most in the sector.
Commenting on the new position statement today (February 9), Mark Hatfield, chair of the Gypsum Re-processors Association UK and Ireland (GRAUKI) said: “It is good news and demonstrates that the Agency is willing to allow it to be spread to land”.
However, Mr Hatfield explained that recyclers were seeking further changes to allow larger volumes of recycled plasterboard to be recycled to land in the form of soil conditioner and in areas where there was not necessarily a fertiliser need.
End of Waste
He said: “We are looking to expand on this by putting in an application to the Agency for end of waste status for spreading gypsum to land for soil improvement purposes. Hopefully that will allow us to spread larger volumes.
“We are working with the Environment Agency on that and are hopeful that it will be approved. We hope to put in our application in March. Ideally it would be in place by September/October.”
Mr Hatfield added that it was in the interests of both reputable recyclers and the Agency to stop material which had not been properly recycled being spread to land: “We are talking about an audit sytem to make sure it is carefully controlled”.
He added: “At the moment we have to apply for an individual permit to spread to land which is not commercially viable. You have to pay £1-2k for a deployment permit and have soil tests done. Whereas raw gypsum can be applied when and how you want.”
Quality Protocol
Mr Hatfield’s comments come after GRAUKI raised concerns last year that the Quality Protocol for the production and use of recycled gypsum only designated two permitted end uses for the material for plasterboard manufacture or for cement production (see letsrecycle.com story) – to the exclusion of agricultural use.
At present, around 15% of plasterboard used on construction sites ends up as waste, with an estimated one million tonnes arising in total each year.
Plasterboard is made up of gypsum plaster pressed between two sheets of thick paper. The material is recycled in a number of different ways but generally involves passing it through a system of sieves, with the paper being lifter out and the gypsum coming off as a powder.
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