This article is the third in a series, by Nick Turner, Head of Surveying, Woodgate & Clark
In this next article in a series on the circular economy in property repairs, Nick Turner, Head of Surveying at Woodgate & Clark, one of the U.K.’s leading loss adjusters, examines the problem with plasterboard and the eco-power of copper.
Check out the full report at the Woodgate & Clark website here.
The Problem with Plasterboard
Plasterboard is one of the construction industry’s most wasted products due to over-ordering, poor storage and transport methods, lack of care when installing and a general lack of consideration, mainly because it is considered a ‘cheap’ material.
More than 2.5 million tonnes of plasterboard is used in the UK’s construction industry each year but the amount of plasterboard waste from demolition and refurbishment projects is estimated to be more than 1 million tonnes per year.
It is traditionally manufactured in a standard 2440mm by 1220mm sheets and although other sizes are available, they are all in modules of this. While it is easier to design a new build to minimise cutting and waste, repairing ceilings and walls does require custom dimensions, as each repair is different. The result is a huge amount of new material is wasted as offcuts.
Plasterboard and other waste gypsum products are now considered as hazardous waste and can no longer be put into landfill sites with biodegradable waste. So, the incentive must be to reduce waste (saving costs) and the opportunity is there to increase the amount of plasterboard available for recycling.
While it is relatively easy to recycle plasterboard off-cuts, recycling plasterboard that has been fixed, skimmed and painted is harder because it is mixed with other materials.
Recycled gypsum from clean waste plasterboard can be used in a variety of applications which currently use gypsum from natural or synthetic sources. A way needs to be established to recycle plasterboard and gypsum products and get them into the existing markets.
There are standards and protocols for recycled plasterboard. The advantage is that by complying with a quality protocol waste controls, such as using waste transfer notes when the materials are transported, do not applyxi.
This is a product worth focusing on to reduce waste and increase recycling.
Copper in construction
In stark contrast Copper has the longest recycling history of any material known to civilization, as it is infinitely recyclable and can be used again and again without losing any of its properties. It is estimated that in the last one hundred years, two-thirds of the 690 million tonnes of copper produced are still in productive usexii.
From copper pipes used in plumbing systems to copper wires found in wiring and roof sheeting, all types of copper products can be recycled.
Construction and plumbing are known for having a strong circular economy when it comes to the use and re-use of copper, with the demand for the metal met increasingly by a secondary supply of recycled copper.
As recycling techniques improve, the proportion of secondary copper in circulation will continue to increase and the need to mine will continue to decline.
Construction is estimated to use 25% of all copper and that around 75% of copper products are manufactured using recycled copperxiii. In fact, copper recycling uses up to 85% less energy than mining virgin copper and is also believed to be as much as 13 times cheaperxiv.
These two facts alone are a sufficient incentive for anyone to use recycled copper.
Look out for our next article which summarises the benefits of embracing the circular economy.
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