Friday 12 March 2010

Waste Management

Knauf Drywall Recycling in action

Our philosophy
At Knauf Drywall, we manufacture a wide variety of plasterboard products for the construction industry.
A family owned global company; we understand and are committed to high standards in quality, performance and environmental responsibility. Every step we take today towards energy conservation
helps ensure better lives for generations to come.

Working with the environment
A fundamental part of our ongoing commitment to the environment and sustainability means that Knauf Drywall utilises as many recycled materials within the production of new products as possible.

In making plasterboard, the core raw material is gypsum. There are a number of different types of gypsum, both natural and synthetic. We aim to
use 100% synthetic gypsum in our plasterboard as this comes from the cleaning process of coalfired Power Stations, or similar industrial processes. In both areas we are committed to the reduction in the use of natural resources.

The second key product used in the manufacture of plasterboard is the paper liner and Knauf Drywall strives to only use paper manufactured from recycled materials.

Re-cycling plasterboard waste

As part of our commitment to the environment Knauf Drywall is able to take back “production ready” plasterboard waste to be used again in our production process. To make waste plasterboard “production ready” it needs to be re-processed using specialist equipment, located
close to our production sites. The paper liners are returned to the Paper Industry for recycling.

In order to best manage this process and minimise the effect on the environment and our marketplace, this is handled through the existing
waste management chain.

  • Ensures that your working practices will alter little to keep disruption to a minimum.
  • The cost to the environment in best use of transport is minimised.
  • Your clients can be confident that all the plasterboard waste is being re-cycled into our production process.

The Process

On site
The waste plasterboard should be segregated and loaded into
dedicated “tipper skips” situated conveniently adjacent to the work area. These skips can then be emptied into a larger dedicated skip ready for collection and transportation by your usual waste contractor.

Waste Transfer Station
All plasterboard waste should be segregated and free from
contamination. Should this not be the case it will be necessary to transport the waste plasterboard to a Waste Transfer Station to be sorted.

Plasterboard Recycling Station
Knauf Drywall has entered into a partnership with New West Gypsum to manage and recycle waste plasterboard. New West Gypsum has a wealth of experience in this sector, gained in recycling waste plasterboard in North America. The waste plasterboard will firstly have the paper liner removed and separated ready for recycling. The next stage is to crush the gypsum core to a suitable particle size ready for inclusion into the manufacturing process at Knauf Drywall.

Knauf Drywall plasterboard factory
The re-processed plasterboard waste will be transferred to the
Knauf Drywall factory for use in the production process.

Contact us for more information on recycling@knauf.co.uk 

or contact New West Gypsum directly:

New West Gypsum
14 Church Road
Easton in Gordano
Bristol BS20 0PQ
Tel: 01275 371486
Fax: 01275 371471