DAP-Vinachem JSC ups efficient gypsum reuse, reducing imports

The DAP-Vinachem Joint Stock Company, established in 2010, specializes in producing diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizers with an output of 330 thousand tonnes per year, generating hundreds of thousands of tonnes of gypsum waste annually.

Deputy General Director of DAP-Vinachem Nguyen Ngoc Son said the company had taken various measures in recent years to protect the environment and control the dust dispersed from gypsum landfills. Measures include strengthening the embankments of gypsum waste dumps and reservoirs to avoid spillovers, planting trees, investing in HDPE film coating to ensure the safety of the dump areas, using HDPE membrane cover for rainwater reservoirs and collecting wastewater from the dump areas for reuse.

A PG gypsum waste production line at the Dinh Vu Gypsum Joint Stock Company

The Dinh Vu Gypsum Joint Stock Company was established in 2010 with major shareholders namely the Song Da-Cao Cuong Joint Stock Company, DAP-Vinachem JSC and some others. Over the past seven years, the company has built a production line to recycle gypsum waste with annual capacity of about 750,000 tonnes. The PG gypsum products used to manufacture cement now meet the TCVN 11833: 2017 standard. But consumption is still limited about 200,000 to 250,000 tonnes annually due to competition from natural gypsum imports, equal to 30 percent of the designed capacity. By the end of 2021, landfills held about 3.5 million tonnes of PG gypsum.

On March 26, 2021, the Prime Minister issued Directive No.08/CT-TTg on promoting the treatment and use of ash, slag and gypsum from thermal power, chemical and fertilizer plants as raw material for production of building materials. As a result, the company’s domestic sales of PG gypsum have gradually increased.

Since July 2021, the company’s PG gypsum productivity has increased rapidly, adding 50,000 tonnes of capacity per month (about 600,000 tonnes per year), a bit more than the current amount of its discharged gypsum waste. Company products not only replace imports in terms of their quality, but also offer competitive prices. “In the near future, Dinh Vu Gypsum Joint Stock Company plans to increase its capacity to about one million tonnes per year and may install more production lines to double its output,” said Nguyen Ngoc Son.

The production of artificial gypsum from waste residue of the DAP Dinh Vu Factory managed and operated by the DAP-Vinachem Joint Stock Company contributes to the realization of the government's policy on treatment of ash, slag, gypsum discharged from domestic thermal power and fertilizer plants, as well as reducing a considerable amount of foreign currency used to import gypsum products for production of cement and construction materials.