Environmental Sustainability

Waste Minimisation

Recent changes in legislation and government policy are covered by these key factors: 

  • Reduce waste quantities sent to landfill
  • Landfill facilities are to upgrade the management process to help improve environmental sustainability.
  • More stringent criteria for the classification of waste types, i.e. land filled, recycled or re-used.

Our approach is to, reduce waste, re-use, recycle, recover, and only landfill as a last resort.

Waste classification – The background

Updated environmental guidance in July 2005 affects gypsum products and other ‘high-sulphate’ materials - gypsum is chemically a hydrated form of calcium sulphate. Plasterboard, plaster and related products are normally classified as non-hazardous. However, as they contain a high proportion of sulphate, the new legislation states that they should not be land filled together with organic materials. The Environment Agency refers to a nominal 10% sulphate content of waste materials; anything above this is to be land filled in separate cells.

Landfill

British Gypsum took an active part in the July 2005 launch of the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) plasterboard forum, which was attended by representatives of all elements of the plasterboard supply chain. The key objective of this government-supported initiative is to divert plasterboard waste from landfill.

British Gypsum has substantially reduced its dependence on landfill since December 2003. During this time, the number of  ‘in-house’ landfill cells in use has been reduced from three to one, and landfill waste has decreased by approx 80%.

Plasterboard Recycling

Clean and uncontaminated plasterboard ‘waste’ can be reprocessed and recycled into new plasterboard. British Gypsum has invested in improving its facilities for the recycling of plasterboard waste.

Customer’s Plasterboard Waste

British Gypsum’s Plasterboard Recycling Service offers:

  • The opportunity to reduce waste handling and transport costs.
  • The collection of all British Gypsum plasterboard, cove, gypsum based ceiling tiles, glass-reinforced gypsum and Artex decorative plaster moulding scrap direct form building sites throughout the UK.
  • All products are checked and returned to our plasterboard manufacturing process, helping to save valuable raw materials.
  • On-site receptacles for plasterboard waste are available in either bags or skips.

Resource Management

An important part of ‘sustainability’ is to minimise the dependence on raw materials British Gypsum continues to contribute this by: 

  • Typically 90% of the paper liner used in plasterboard is produced from recycled paper fibre.
  • Wherever possible the gypsum core of the plasterboard is manufactured from gypsum produced at power stations during the ‘de-sulphurisation’.
  • Approximately 90% of our DSG is delivered by rail helping to reduce the environmental impact of transporting raw materials by road.
  • We aim to reduce demand for new pallets by operating a pallet return scheme for its customers.


Emission Control

General

2005 is the last full year during which the primary method of environmental regulation of the company’s processes is ‘Local Authority Pollution Prevention and Control’ (LAPPC). During early 2006 British Gypsum’s larger factories are required to submit applications for permits to operate under IPPC, Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control.  British Gypsum has recruited additional specialist environmental personnel as part of its preparation for the new regime.

However, British Gypsum considers that legal obligations form only the minimum benchmark for the environmental standards to which it wishes to adhere, and in many instances will instigate measures which support environmental performance in excess of its legal obligations.

Air

LAPPC has required that criteria of Best Available Techniques, BAT, are applied to dust (‘particulates’) emissions. In contrast the new regime of IPPC requires that BAT are used not just for dust but for emissions of oxides of nitrogen and of sulphur, both of which can be generated by any combustion process. The company will fully comply with these BAT obligations, which incidentally carry with them the implication of continuous improvement in order to take advantage of new techniques of environmental control.

The new investment projects at Sherburn, East Leake and other plants will require that the latest BAT features will be deployed from plant start up.

At other plants over the next few years, existing electrostatic precipitators, used to abate process dust emissions, will be replaced with high-efficiency fabric filters.

Materials

Packaging

With an extensive product range, use of packaging to protect product quality from factory to point of use on site, can potentially have a significant impact on the environment.
 
British Gypsum completes packaging use reports and fulfils all packaging recovery obligations under the ‘Producer responsibility obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 and subsequent legislation. British Gypsum fulfils these requirements by reporting via BPB UK Ltd and purchasing Packaging Recovery Notes annually or as necessary.

British Gypsum’s Corporate Responsibility Review aims to detail our actions and targets in each of these areas, for all of our stakeholders, to demonstrate our commitment to future sustainable development.