All hands on deck

As the construction and demolition (C&D) industry expands globally, so does demand for effective and efficient solutions to manage construction waste such as gypsum. This has led various stakeholders, including manufacturers, recyclers and municipalities, to explore the associated challenges and opportunities and develop short- and long-term solutions for handling these materials.

In a session titled Gypsum Recycling: A 360-Degree View at C&D World 2025, which was March 11-14 in Dallas, attendees heard from a cross section of industry experts who handle drywall daily. Panelists discussed domestic and global recycling, policy, manufacturing and builder perspectives on the current state of gypsum recycling, current challenges facing the industry and solutions for the industry to work toward.

Ahead of the session, panelists including Amanda Kaminsky, director of sustainability at Consigli, Milford, Massachusetts; Michael McCamley, global business development at New West Gypsum Recycling, British Columbia; Richard Ludt, director of environmental affairs and LEED AP at Interior Removal Specialist Inc., South Gate, California; Katie Kennedy, C&D diversion lead at the city of Seattle; and Te Hua Lau, director of sustainability and thermal engineering at United States Gypsum Corp. (USG), Chicago, weigh in on the current state of gypsum recycling across the U.S. and Canada.

Gypsum recycling challenges

Many challenges surround gypsum recycling, Kaminsky says, all of which can vary by circumstance. These challenges can include an unwillingness to source-separate gypsum on jobsites, an issue Kaminsky believes can be resolved through the use of smart logistics.

Another challenge is contamination of nongypsum elements in recyclable gypsum scrap streams. Strengthening quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) by the waste collector and recycler could go a long way in resolving contamination issues, Kaminsky says.

U.S. manufacturers do not yet accept postuse, demo or deconstructed gypsum material out of concern for potential asbestos contamination, Kaminsky explains.

“Asbestos is the No. 1 barrier to the circular economy,” McCamley says. “It all comes down to figuring out how to bring a safe and clean supply to the market.”

Establishing trusted QA/QC measures from the jobsite through recycling could also address many of these trust issues, Kaminsky says.

A lack of regional processing capacity has hindered the growth of gypsum recycling, Kaminsky says. However, the more existing agricultural gypsum processors add this end market specification capability, the easier it could be to increase processing capacity, she adds.

New third-party processors setting up in sensible hubs or manufacturers adding this capability at manufacturing plants also could help in clearing the processing hurdle.

Processors might need to concentrate on pursuing one or two options between closed-loop gypsum remanufacturing, agriculture and cement uses to overcome a lack of diversified end markets in particular regions, Kaminsky says.

Finally, she says, landfill alternatives to gypsum scrap diversion are sometimes cheaper. Tipping fees are increasing steadily, and many landfills are closing because of capacity and/or excess hydrogen sulfide gas (H₂S) generation.

In Southern California, for example, the Chiquita Canyon Landfill closed in January given ongoing regulatory and legal challenges and the odor of H₂S emissions, highlighting the need to keep gypsum out of landfills.

“Keeping gypsum out of landfills will not only extend the life of those landfills but also keep out H₂S and other issues,” Ludt says. “Additionally, in the next 12 years, Southern California anticipates two more large landfill closures due to capacity.”

Best practices and solutions

To address the previously mentioned challenges, various best practices, regulations and legislation and solutions have been developed within the industry. In Seattle, for example, a disposal ban was implemented on seven materials including new construction gypsum scrap, Kennedy says.

While not a landfill ban, the legislation aims to keep gypsum out of landfills by ensuring the material is sent to a qualified C&D recycling facility—either a source-separated recycler or mixed-waste recycling facility—for recycling or beneficial reuse.

“While we have a lot of infrastructure and qualified C&D recycling facilities, performance has decreased over the years due to consolidation and moving a lot of material that may not be as clean … so I think it’s time to revisit what’s working and what’s not and shore some things up,” Kennedy says.

In Vancouver, British Columbia, gypsum drywall scrap was banned from landfills in the mid-1980s because it was directly causing harmful H₂S to form in a humid anaerobic landfill.

“This ban led to the formation of New West Gypsum Recycling, which has been recycling the material ever since,” Kaminsky says.

In 2023, USG established its Take-Back Recycling Program to help USG and its customers preserve natural resources and encourage material reuse. According to the USG website, by recycling gypsum panels and ceiling panels into new building materials, USG aims to prevent reusable jobsite materials from being discarded into landfills, where they so often end up today.

“Asbestos is the No. 1 barrier to the circular economy. It all comes down to figuring out how to bring a safe and clean supply to the market.” — Michael McCamley, global business development, New West Gypsum Recycling, British Columbia

“With this program, we are taking back postconsumer, clean jobsite materials,” Lau says. “The materials are then processed at our facilities and turned into new products with higher recycling content, creating a closed-loop recycling system.”

USG also has set 2030 sustainability goals in four key areas. Some of these goals include reducing manufacturing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) by 30 percent, reducing nonmanufacturing GHG emissions (Scope 3) by 15 percent, becoming the recognized leader in construction jobsite reclamation for gypsum board and ceiling tile recycling and achieving zero manufacturing waste to landfill.

“We are advocating for zero waste to landfill,” Lau says. “That’s a public commitment ... and every facility we have is definitely capable of doing it.”

These objectives, along with many others, align with broader industry trends focused on enhancing sustainability and minimizing overall environmental impact, Kaminsky says.

The future of gypsum recycling

As the industry looks to the future of gypsum recycling, Kaminsky says it’s important to consider the following factors: technology, regulations and legislation, partnerships, uses, infrastructure and environmental impact.

“One of the things I don’t think enough people talk about is, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), C&D debris including gypsum is 50 percent of what’s going into our landfills,” Ludt adds. “The 2018 data from EPA is the most recent comprehensive data, with almost 145 million tons of C&D debris being sent to landfills.”

That said, to achieve a more sustainable future for gypsum recycling, Ludt says, industry stakeholders must collaborate to address ongoing challenges, explore new ways to ensure proper and safe recycling processes and share best practices to improve and expand gypsum recycling across the industry.

The author is event and content producer for the Recycling Today Media Group and can be reached at mszczepanski@gie.net.