When renovation work is done at home, there is a lot of waste that the company in charge or the private citizen then finds themselves having to dispose of, obviously in the correct way, as required by law. Among them, one of the most common is plasterboard. It is, in fact, a building material widely used in household work, especially for false ceilings, walls and false walls, bookcases and equipped walls. Again, with plasterboard you can create walk-in closets or even kitchens – instead of masonry – or bathtubs. Finally, numerous decorative elements inside a house can be made with plasterboard.
What is plasterboard
Plasterboard has a structure usually composed of a sheet of dehydrated gypsum, sometimes combined with other materials, then inserted between two sheets of pressed cardboard. Its thickness can vary, depending on use, from 2 millimeters up to 20. The plasterboard is mounted with aluminum profiles that are used to create the depth of the structure to be created: the sheets of plasterboard are then fixed to this which will then be treated as real masonry walls, then with grouting and painting. Plasterboard panels are so comfortable and used, as they resist shocks very well and also allow you to thermally and acoustically insulate rooms.
A material, therefore, extremely versatile, but also quite difficult to dispose of. It is obviously necessary to specify that private individuals must turn to municipal companies for disposal, while companies to professionals such as Eurocorporation who offer the best solution to be able to manage plasterboard, entrusting the management to a team of specialized professionals.
According to the definitions of the law, plasterboard is a non-hazardous, reusable special waste. Therefore, it cannot be disposed of in the normal undifferentiated dry waste of one’s municipality. In addition, it cannot even go to city landfills which, since it does not fall under the classification of municipal solid waste, cannot accept it by law.
So what to do to get rid of plasterboard? It is clear that it is not a hazardous waste nor, therefore, an immediate threat to public health, but it will certainly have to be disposed of in the correct way to avoid polluting the environment.
Legislation regarding the disposal of plasterboard
If we talk about plasterboard, we must start from Decree-Law number 36 of 2003 (“Implementation of Directive 1999/31/EC relating to waste landfills”) and its subsequent amendments, up to Decree-Law No. 121 of 3 September 2020, Implementation of Directive (EU) 2018/850, which amends Directive 1999/31/EC relating to the landfill of waste and which classifies waste deriving from gypsum as special. We read in the text: “Non-hazardous gypsum-based materials. Such waste must not be deposited in areas designated for biodegradable non-hazardous waste. Waste placed in landfills together with gypsum-based materials must have a TOC concentration not exceeding 5 percent and a DOC value not exceeding the limit set out in table 5a of Annex 4”. For those who want to learn more, the entire decree can be consulted in the Official Gazette.
Solutions for plasterboard disposal
We therefore understood that, when it can no longer be reused, plasterboard becomes waste to be disposed of according to the regulations in force.
Since it cannot be left in areas intended for biodegradable non-hazardous waste or even be disposed of as urban waste in our cities, the best solution to correctly dispose of plasterboard is through authorized operators or qualified companies who will know how to store, treat and recycle it. Therefore, the disposal of plasterboard will have to be carried out through companies that deal specifically with this, and which are therefore legally authorized to collect, transport, dispose of the material.
It should not be forgotten that the incorrect management of this type of waste can cause individuals and companies to incur fines or even complaints for environmental pollution.
Finally, among the peculiarities of plasterboard, we remember its high recyclability: in fact, it is one of the materials that allow the complete recycling circuit, for which the waste can be used to manufacture the same product, therefore new panels, without losing quality. Recycled gypsum can also be used in the production of cement.
