ABSTRACT
This article outlines the preliminary findings of a project commissioned by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). The paper is based on practical experience of the collection and segregation of plasterboard waste at three construction and demolition sites between December 2005 and November 2006. The operating procedures for the reclamation of plasterboard waste on site; tonnages of plasterboard waste arising; factors affecting on-site recovery; economic constraints and opportunities, and; logistical constraints and opportunities are described and considered for each site.
In assessing the barriers to segregating and recycling plasterboard from construction and demolition sites in the UK, it is argued that too much emphasis may be placed on ‘legislative barriers'. Whilst such barriers are influential, there is, in practice, an interplay of factors governing the success of plasterboard recovery. Where there is an organisational commitment to segregate for recycling legislative barriers become less important than the site-based factors in determining the success of a particular scheme.
The three cases described demonstrate the logistical, economic and technical viability of plasterboard segregation and recycling schemes on different types of site with different material handling and waste management arrangements in place. It is hoped that the findings from these three case studies can be used to support and inform the wider adoption of similar plasterboard recovery schemes in the future.
