Gypsum industry news

US: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has launched the Waste Reduction Innovation Grant (WRIG) initiative. The initiative will provide funding between US$50,000 and US$100,000 for up to 10 recycling projects and between US$500,000 and US$2m for up to four further projects. Gypsum wallboard is among the recyclables eligible for funding, along with other building materials like bitumen felt shingles and wood.

Construction & Demolition Recycling News has reported that the WRIG initiative supports Massachusetts’ Solid Waste Master Plan to reduce landfill by 30% by 2030 and by 90% by 2050.

Spain: Wallboard liner manufacturer Alier has won €9.6m in European Regional Development Fund funding for an upcoming recycled paper plant in the Lopez Soriano Recycling Technology Park in Zaragoza. Spanish Collection News has reported that the plant forms part of the Gypsum Board 5.0 circular wallboard project. Alier expects to invest €40m in the project altogether.

France: Siniat has announced the forthcoming launch of its RECYPLAC 100% recycled gypsum wallboard in July 2025. Siniat developed the product at a pilot line at its Carpentras plant in Vaucluse and will now start to produce it at its Ottmarsheim plant in Haut-Rhin.

Siniat’s parent company Etex says that it is the European leader in the use of recycled gypsum, with some gypsum wallboard plants already producing over 35% recycled wallboard. Group recycled gypsum use rose by 34% between 2018 and 2024.

UK: Etex subsidiary Siniat has inaugurated a new line at its Bristol gypsum wallboard plant in the West of England. The plant will produce 98% of Siniat’s portfolio of wallboard products for the UK and Ireland markets. It will incorporate 45% recycled content in its products, with zero waste to landfill. The company said the upgrade to the plant cost €200m.

Belgium-based Etex says that the inauguration marks its single largest production investment in its history.

Italy: Eco Avant-Garde has launched a new product from its Eco Gypsum 64 gypsum wallboard recycling system. The system can now produce pulverised paper pellets as fuel for dryers at gypsum wallboard plants. Eco Avant-Garde highlighted the evident circular economic potential of the advance in a post to LinkedIn.

Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement has applied for a patent for a method of combining alkali metal hydroxide solutions with CO₂ to produce alkali metal salts that react with gypsum to produce calcium carbonate. Energy Weekly News has reported that the developers used gypsum from recycled gypsum wallboard to demonstrate the process.

Spain: Paper products specialist Alier has begun construction of a new €40m gypsum wallboard recycling plant in Zaragoza’s López Soriano Recycling Technology Park. The plant will recycle gypsum wallboards powered by a solar plant and biomass plant, generating net zero CO₂ emissions. The Heraldo de Aragón newspaper has reported that the plant will create 130 direct jobs and an estimated 390 indirect jobs.

UK: France-based Saint-Gobain subsidiary British Gypsum has launched the Gyproc SoundBloc Infinaé 100 gypsum wallboard in the UK. The board is the group’s first to feature 100% recycled gypsum. The producer said that construction firms supply used plasterboard from jobsites as raw materials, by means of British Gypsum’s collection service. The service also covers used adhesives and fillers.

Canada: CertainTeed Canada has received environmental assessment approval from the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Climate Change for its Antrim Gypsum Project in Halifax County, Nova Scotia. It can now move to the project’s permitting phase and toward construction beginning in 2026.

The subsidiary of France-based Saint-Gobain intends to establish operations in Nova Scotia, where eastern North America’s only known major source of gypsum is located. The company will then strengthen its ability to supply its wallboard plants in eastern Canada and the US with locally mined gypsum.

CertainTeed Canada also recently completed construction on its Kootenay West Mine in British Columbia, which is now operational at full capacity with plans to develop a new railway to connect better to other units in western Canada. The company is also reopening its Amaranth Mine in Manitoba to serve central Canada. These efforts are in addition to a partnership with New West Gypsum to recycle and reuse wallboard in production in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, which has led to over 1Mt of wallboard being recycled and reused at the Vancouver plant alone.

France: Knauf France aims to use 35% recycled gypsum at its Fos-sur-Mer gypsum wallboard plant in Bouches-du-Rhône, with an interim target of 10% by 2025. The company inaugurated the 30Mm²/yr plant in March 2024. It is currently using its own offcuts in production, but has a dedicated silo in which to also store gypsum from other sources in future. The plant’s wallboard requires 15 – 20% less energy than is used at a ‘traditional’ Knauf plant through the use of a vertical mill and high-efficiency driers. Its water use is optimised by drawing it in batches.

Les Cahiers Techniques News has reported that general manager Christine Muscat said "The ramp-up is gradual and we are at a third of production capacity, which we plan to reach fully in the second half of 2025."