VDPM – ASSOCIATION FOR INSULATION SYSTEMS, PLASTER AND MORTAR ASSOCIATION OF THE GERMAN GYPSUM INDUSTRY (BV GIPS)

Supplies of gypsum as a raw material must be assured right away

Knauf

Quarrying/mining of natural gypsum

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1 Forecast for FGD gypsum (basis: Coal Phase-Out Act and Federal Statistical Office [Destatis] data; source: Association of the German Gypsum Industry)

2 The gypsum resource mix in Germany 2020 to 2035 (source: Federal Building Materials Association [BBS] Resources Study 2019, Association of the German Gypsum Industry)

Knauf

3 Recultivation

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“Building industry alarmed – Germany needs more gypsum”, “Where are we going to get gypsum in future?” – these were just a couple of the headlines appearing in the general media in recent times. Gypsum is used in numerous building materials, such as drywall, and also cement, lime and gypsum-based plasters, floor toppings and mortars, and it is an important and irreplaceable constituent. Will screeders, plasterers and drywall specialists find they have no materials in the near future? How assured is the supply of this feed material really, and what factors play a role here? In cooperation with the Association of the German Gypsum Industry (BV Gips), the Association for Insulation Systems, Plaster and Mortar (VDPM) provides information on the current situation and future prospects in the following article.

Germany needs around 10 million t of gypsum each year, with a rising trend. These supplies are met completely from domestic resources. Around half of the quantity of gypsum needed is provided by the flue-gas desulphurisation process installed in power-generation plants, so-called FGD gypsum. The remainder essentially takes the form of natural gypsum/anhydrite, which is either quarried or mined underground.