Environmental problems in the production of gypsum encourage its recycling and reuse for the production of new composites

Reference	Presenter	Authors (Institution)	Abstract
03-018	Fabio José Esper	Bartolomei, S.S.(USP); Moura, E.(University of São Paulo); Wiebeck, H.(USP); Esper, F.J.(USP);	The biggest gypsum production of South America is Brazil, that produced 3300 tons in 2016, representing a drop of 22% in its production, compared to data from 2013, when 3750 tons were produced, a number that is falling every year. The largest producer of gypsum in the world is China, which produces 130000 tons per year, out of a total of 265,000 tons produced worldwide. The large-scale production of gypsum around the world boosts civil construction, its main consumer. However, the production of plaster causes many environmental impacts, such as groundwater contamination, desertification of the region due to deforestation, discarded ores and suspended particulate matter and pollutants. Another big problem, for Brazil, a country with continental dimensions, is logistics. The plaster produced in the northern and northeastern regions is often transported to the southern region, about 3000 km away, increasing the cost due to transport and, again, generating pollutants due to the burning of fuels used in the supply of trucks, the main means of industrial transportation in Brazil. All these factors encourage the recycling of plaster in Brazil, mainly after the change in resolution 307 of the National Council of the Environment (Conama), which since 2011 classifies plaster as a recyclable product. Thus, the industries generating this type of waste are responsible for properly targeting them by increasing the amount of waste plaster recycled in the country ever since. The main ways to recycle plaster are: reuse for soil repair in the agricultural industry and calcination, therefor, the waste can be reused again in the civil industry. This work studied the temperature for calcination and the contamination of the residues of the production of plaster angles, to verify the feasibility of recycling with a lower possible energy consumption and, also for the use of these particles as dispersed phase in new composites.
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