WRAP funds plasterboard recycling

The UK's Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has allocated £65,000 (US$127,000) under its plasterboard capital funding competition to Roy Hatfield Ltd, a Rotherham based recycling operation.

The funding, which amounted to 30% of the total project cost, allowed the company to double its storage capacity by the addition of a new covered bay that can hold up to 600 tonnes of waste plasterboard. A new primary sizer ensures that the waste plasterboard entering the separation process is of a consistent size, and a new cyclone and density separator has improved the gypsum/paper separation process, and improving the quality of the recycled gypsum powder as well as producing cleaner paper. New concrete hardstands and improved drainage has improved vehicular access to the loading and storage areas.

These improvements mean that Roy Hatfield Ltd will be able to process an additional 85,000 tonnes of waste plasterboard over the next five years.

It is currently estimated that some 900,000 tonnes of waste plasterboard are generated in the UK.