| Title |
Forgotten dust: following plasterboard for non-destructive circular economies |
| ID_Doc |
16855 |
| Authors |
Rumo, D |
| Title |
Forgotten dust: following plasterboard for non-destructive circular economies |
| Year |
2023 |
| Published |
|
| DOI |
10.3389/frsus.2023.994452 |
| Abstract |
The exploitative and unsustainable life of the construction material plasterboard requires more sustainable economies. In this article I examine the disposal of plasterboard as an experimental case for discussing a type of non-destructive circularity. A non-destructive circular model is one way to open imaginaries for more sustainable activities of construction. My focus is on end-of-life plasterboard, including its demolition, removal from construction sites, recycling and landfilling. Three months of fieldwork in the south of Finland clarified the current state of the material. I followed plasterboard across two building sites, two recycling facilities and a landfill site, and visually exposed disposal practices and material states to show the entanglement of workers, materials and circular economy discourses. The results highlight that plasterboard reproduces a problematic circularity that merely focuses on waste management through limited recycling, doing little to decrease the need for raw gypsum extraction. I outline how plasterboard in disposal conceptually disappears from the current economic model, which fails to address a variety of opportunities for more sustainable construction. By exposing a material reality that is concerned with small amounts of plasterboard in disposal, I show gypsum crumbs and dust which are unable to play a role in the current circular economy. However, I argue that attending to end-of-life plasterboard opens possibilities to imagine more ethical engagements with the material, towards non-destructive circularities. The disposal of plasterboard makes the inadequacy of the material for current circulation visible and can contribute to a debate on more sustainable economies of construction. |
| Author Keywords |
diverse economies; circular economy; buildings; construction materials; materiality; plasterboard |
| Index Keywords |
Index Keywords |
| Document Type |
Other |
| Open Access |
Open Access |
| Source |
Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) |
| EID |
WOS:001269598200001 |
| WoS Category |
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology; Environmental Sciences; Environmental Studies |
| Research Area |
Science & Technology - Other Topics; Environmental Sciences & Ecology |
| PDF |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsus.2023.994452/pdf
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