Evaluation of Reclaimed Drywall for Soil Amendment and Carbon Sequestration

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Besnard, F. (2013). Evaluation of Reclaimed Drywall for Soil Amendment and Carbon Sequestration. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

Construction and demolition (C&D) activities produce 170 million tons of waste annually (US EPA 2009), 15% of which are drywall. Drywall from construction activities, virgin material too small to be reused and often disposed in landfills, is estimated at 1.7 million tons each year (Sandler 2003). Drywall in landfills leads to hydrogen sulfide emissions that can be lethal (Lee et al. 2006; Flynn 1998). The goal of this research was to evaluate two diversion options for reclaimed drywall: (i) as a soil amendment; and (ii) as a carbon sequestration driver. Canola, sunflower, wheat, and grass plants were amended with different doses of ground drywall. While the drywall did not significantly impact sunflower and grass growth, wheat seed yield increased 20%, and canola yield almost doubled relative to controls with no drywall amendment. Phytotoxicity tests performed on different drywall types revealed the potential inhibition effects of using mold and moisture resistant drywall as soil amendment, suggesting that careful sorting of reclaimed drywall may be necessary before land application. Wheat and corn amended with 3,208 kg S ha-1 as ground drywall in a climate receiving less than 33 in y-1 of rain proved able to sequester atmospheric carbon at a rate of 650 kg ha-1 y-1. Presumably the plants transported atmospheric carbon to the soil via rhizosphere respiration, where the carbon reacted with drywall calcium to form calcium carbonate. This sequestration was confirmed by carbon isotope analysis.

Details
Author

Besnard, Fabien

Title

Evaluation of Reclaimed Drywall for Soil Amendment and Carbon Sequestration

Physical Description

1 online resource (188 pages) : PDF

Date

2013

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

Construction and demolition (C&D) activities produce 170 million tons of waste annually (US EPA 2009), 15% of which are drywall. Drywall from construction activities, virgin material too small to be reused and often disposed in landfills, is estimated at 1.7 million tons each year (Sandler 2003). Drywall in landfills leads to hydrogen sulfide emissions that can be lethal (Lee et al. 2006; Flynn 1998). The goal of this research was to evaluate two diversion options for reclaimed drywall: (i) as a soil amendment; and (ii) as a carbon sequestration driver. Canola, sunflower, wheat, and grass plants were amended with different doses of ground drywall. While the drywall did not significantly impact sunflower and grass growth, wheat seed yield increased 20%, and canola yield almost doubled relative to controls with no drywall amendment. Phytotoxicity tests performed on different drywall types revealed the potential inhibition effects of using mold and moisture resistant drywall as soil amendment, suggesting that careful sorting of reclaimed drywall may be necessary before land application. Wheat and corn amended with 3,208 kg S ha-1 as ground drywall in a climate receiving less than 33 in y-1 of rain proved able to sequester atmospheric carbon at a rate of 650 kg ha-1 y-1. Presumably the plants transported atmospheric carbon to the soil via rhizosphere respiration, where the carbon reacted with drywall calcium to form calcium carbonate. This sequestration was confirmed by carbon isotope analysis.

Genre

doctoral dissertations

Subjects--Topics

Environmental engineering

Degree

Ph.D.

Keywords

Calcium Carbonate
Canola
Carbon Sequestration
C&D Waste
Drywall
Soil Amendment

Subject Area

Infrastructure & Environmental Systems

Advisor(s)

Hillger, Helene

Committee Members

Daniels, John
Eppes, Martha
McMillab, Sara
Bender, John

Degree Note

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2013.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Besnard_uncc_0694D_10451

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:952