Promoting coordinative development of phosphogypsum resources reuse through a novel integrated approach: A case study from China

Abstract

Proper reuse of phosphogypsum (PG) can mitigate the potential risks to humans and environment caused by improper disposal. Therefore, exploration of PG reuse schemes is necessary based on environmental performance, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and economic benefits. Few studies have investigated this issue considering these four aspects simultaneously; thus, such studies cannot provide sufficient decision-making information. This study proposes an integrated approach, composed of emergy-based indicators, energy consumption intensity, carbon emissions intensity, and economic indicators, as well as a comprehensive index, specifically, the synergy degree index, to compare waste reuse schemes for more complete decision-making. A building materials production enterprise that uses PG as the main raw material has four product systems, namely, the building gypsum powder system (BGPS), new wall material system (NWMS), plaster cavity floor system (PCFS), and dry-mixed mortar system (DMS). These systems were used as a case study and investigated using a specific approach presented in this study. The research results show that the BGPS has the most reasonable resource structure; it has the highest environmental sustainability and also the highest energy consumption and carbon emission intensities, while the PCFS has the highest production efficiency and the largest environmental load. The BGPS has the highest environmental sustainability. The DMS has the best economic benefit and generally exhibits the best comprehensive performance. Therefore, DMS use should further increase environmental sustainability of PG in the future.