# Recycle plaster?



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Good luck with that idea, just trash it, not worth the time and effort.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

The material is recyclable......BUT...the cost to do that is more than what a new sheet costs.....

And this is one of the great debates related to recycling.....where the cost to recycle is greater than the cost to make new...

On a positive note....it does not hurt the land fill.

On a similar note....when my garage was torn down....about 80% of it was recycled.....ALL of the concrete foundation went to a crusher where it was crushed and used for new concrete...same with the stucco....I believe they even recycled the asphalt shingles....


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## mgp roofing (Aug 15, 2011)

Our local plasterboard manufacturers suggest crushing up the offcuts and digging them into the garden areas around your site, the gypsum is good for the soil. When I gutted my laundry, I tossed the old sheets of drywall outside in the rain. Once they got soaked and fell apart, it was easy to peel off the front face paper with the paint on it, that went in the trash, I mixed the rest in with the topsoil. Very good if you have a heavy clay soil, helps to break it up; you can buy bags of gypsum for this purpose. Some commercial composting plants accept plaster, they grind it up and add it to the mix. The old paint may be an issue, though.


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## hand drive (Apr 21, 2012)

be careful with old torn down plaster, what are the chances that there is lead involved when even mentioning the stuff. not the best thing to try and reuse unfortunately, use a mask and dispose of properly.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

And some had asbestos in it as a filler.
http://www.asbestosinplaster.net/


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## asciiman (Feb 19, 2010)

I had my wall tested for both lead and asbestos and it came back negative on both.



ddawg16 said:


> The material is recyclable......BUT...the cost to do that is more than what a new sheet costs.....
> 
> And this is one of the great debates related to recycling.....where the cost to recycle is greater than the cost to make new...


Oftentimes the dollar cost is not the only cost involved. There are environmental and health costs that occur during the mining process and due to disposal of old materials. I'm not as familiar with the production cycle for plaster, but this is certainly true for other materials.



ddawg16 said:


> The material is recyclable......
> On a similar note....when my garage was torn down....about 80% of it was recycled.....ALL of the concrete foundation went to a crusher where it was crushed and used for new concrete...same with the stucco....I believe they even recycled the asphalt shingles....





mgp roofing said:


> Some commercial composting plants accept plaster, they grind it up and add it to the mix. The old paint may be an issue, though.


Can either of you tell me the name of any local (to you) facilities that you suspect may recycle or compost that material? I'd like to call them and find out what's all involved.

I believe it's worth the effort to do some research on this. It's been shown time and time again that with a little ingenuity and creative thinking it's possible to lessen our impact on the environment as well as reducing cost for the builder/purchaser.


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## danpik (Sep 11, 2011)

Are you talking Drywall Gypsum board or real plaster. gypsum board is basicaly an all natural material. The gypsum and binders are all mined from the ground and the paper will de-compose. We had a local farmer here that would take the scraps from a distributor and plow them into his field in the fall. In the spring there was no sign of any of it in the soil and his corn crop grew great. If it is old plaster that is essentialy a cement material that will be like landfilling old concrete. The most that will leach out of either is the lime inherent in the manufacture of both and sweeten up the soil


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

asciiman said:


> I
> Can either of you tell me the name of any local (to you) facilities that you suspect may recycle or compost that material? I'd like to call them and find out what's all involved.
> 
> I believe it's worth the effort to do some research on this. It's been shown time and time again that with a little ingenuity and creative thinking it's possible to lessen our impact on the environment as well as reducing cost for the builder/purchaser.


Here is a link to the list of approved solid waste recyclers in LA County

http://dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/CD/cd_attachments/Disposal_Facilities.pdf

And a link to the LA County Program

http://dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/CD/index.cfm


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