Investment in green plasterboard
New equipment at the CertainTeed plasterboard plant in Florida, USA, is increasing the proportion of recycled material and reducing the carbon footprint of its production.
CertainTeed has invested US$1.1 million in new recycling technology at its gypsum plant in Palatka, Florida (USA). This initiative is in line with the Group's Grow & Impact strategic plan, which aims to embed corporate social responsibility, particularly by reducing waste and promoting the reuse of raw materials.
In a plasterboard production line, waste paper or gypsum is typically generated, particularly when the line is started or stopped, or when production equipment is replaced to make different sized boards. The new technology installed at Palatka uses this scrap at the plant: finely shredded and sorted, the raw materials are fed back into the manufacturing process to produce gypsum board from recycled materials.
The Florida plant already produces gypsum board from reused gypsum or paper, but this investment will increase the amount of recycled material in its production by 18,000 metric tons per year. Recycling its own waste is also a way to import less, and generate less carbon (Scope 3*). In addition, this new electrical equipment replaces a system that used to run on diesel, and therefore also reduces the plant's Scope 1* greenhouse gas emissions. In total, the Palatka plant saves 2,260 metric tons of carbon each year.
CertainTeed is also investing in its other North American plants, such as Silver Grove (Kentucky) and Nashville (Arkansas), to continue to increase the proportion of recycled material in plaster board production.
* Scope 1: direct emissions
Scope 2: energy consumption in production
Scope 3: indirect emissions (greenhouse gases emitted during the life cycle)