Purchase drywall in sizes that minimize the need for trimming (saving time and waste).

Consider specifying drywall with 75% or greater recycled content, including at least 10% post-consumer recycled content. [See the CIWMB Recycled Products Database below.]

Consider specifying ‘synthetic’ drywall, produced from coal combustion byproducts, which has the same purity standards as natural gypsum.

Pulverize and compost or land-apply any clean drywall off-cuts. (However, paints and adhesives can make used drywall a poor choice for composting.)

Due to its ease of installation, familiarity, fire resistance, non-toxicity, and sound attenuation, gypsum board is ubiquitous in construction. Drywall is a benign substance (basically paper-covered calcium sulfate,) but it has significant environmental impacts because it is used on a vast scale; domestic construction uses 30 billion square feet per year.

The primary environmental impacts of gypsum are habitat disruption from mining, energy use and associated emissions in processing and shipment, and solid waste from its disposal. Using 'synthetic' or recycled gypsum board significantly reduces several of these impacts. Synthetic gypsum, which accounts for 20% of U.S. raw gypsum use, is made from the by-product of manufacturing and energy-generating processes, primarily from desulfurization of coal power plant exhaust gases. More than 80% of coal fly ash sold in the U.S. is used in gypsum board.

Though synthetic gypsum board use is growing, diverting drywall from the waste stream is proving more challenging. Reclaimed gypsum board can be recycled into new gypsum panels that meet the same quality standards as natural and synthetic gypsum, but gypsum is an inexpensive material that can require significant labor to separate for recycling. Drywall face paper is commonly 100% recycled, from newsprint, cardboard, and other post-consumer waste streams, but most recycled gypsum in drywall products comes from drywall manufacture. Exceptional deconstruction operations have successfully reclaimed used drywall in good condition for reuse.

Raw gypsum is benign and is regularly consumed as a calcium supplement as well as in many foods, including wine, beer, cheeses, and bread. While eating wall board is not recommended (nor is it appetizing,) clean pulverized off-cuts are a safe soil amendment. Working crushed gypsum offcuts (that have not been painted, glued, or otherwise contaminated) into soil helps reduce waste while improving the workability and calcium availability of many soils.

Finding environmentally preferable drywall is easier than it sounds; many local retailers carry environmentally preferable drywall, but may not know it. Inquire about their offerings using the above criteria, or use the following websites to research the characteristics of drywall brands.