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Phosphogypsum is a waste residue generated from phosphate chemical production, primarily composed of calcium sulfate, while containing hazardous substances including phosphorus, fluorine and heavy metals, which pose environmental risks. The phosphate chemical industry is densely concentrated in Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Hubei provinces along the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River in China, resulting in an enormous annual output of phosphogypsum and severe stockpiling pressure.
The most prominent industry-wide challenge at present is that the generation rate of phosphogypsum far exceeds its disposal capacity. In terms of capacity mismatch, a high-end gypsum board production line can only consume tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of tons of modified phosphogypsum per year, whereas a single phosphate chemical enterprise may produce millions of tons of waste residue annually — a hundredfold disparity in supply and demand volume. Meanwhile, modified phosphogypsum carries higher raw material costs than natural gypsum. Without mandatory waste disposal policies, downstream building material enterprises have little incentive to adopt it voluntarily, further slowing down the progress of resource recovery and utilization.
In truth, the disposal bottleneck is not unique to phosphogypsum. Other bulk industrial solid wastes such as coal gangue, red mud and fly ash face identical difficulties: decades of industrial accumulation has left stockpiles amounting to billions of tons, forming a heavy legacy burden; ongoing industrial operations generate a steady stream of new waste; in addition, resource-derived products are subject to volatile market prices and limited application scenarios, rendering most resource utilization projects unprofitable and unsustainable in the long run.
II. Paradigm Shift in Governance: Prioritize Harmless Treatment Over Resource Utilization
When high-value resource recovery is constrained by market forces, the core contradiction of solid waste governance has shifted from "efficiently turning waste into treasure" to "large-scale safe disposal". The industry’s governance logic requires adjustment: prioritize harmless treatment of solid waste to mitigate environmental risks and lower disposal thresholds, before carrying out large-volume safe disposal.
Domestic industrial solid waste is classified into Category I and Category II. Category II solid waste carries high environmental risks, subject to stringent disposal standards and exorbitant costs; Category I solid waste poses low risks with lenient disposal requirements. The prevailing viable solution today is to modify high-risk Category II solid waste to downgrade it into Category I solid waste.
Taking phosphogypsum modification as an example: after harmless treatment, its leaching concentration of phosphate radicals drops from dozens to over one hundred milligrams per liter to less than one milligram per liter, drastically cutting environmental hazards. Modified phosphogypsum boasts wider application prospects — it can be recycled as raw material for building materials, deployed in large quantities for mine restoration and underground backfilling, or landfilled under relaxed standards, slashing overall disposal costs.
This model has achieved large-scale commercial application. Since 2021, Construction Environmental Remediation Co., Ltd. has launched phosphogypsum modification and disposal projects in phosphate chemical clusters along the upper and middle Yangtze River, with cumulative contract value approaching RMB 3 billion to date. The harmless disposal model has been fully validated by the market.
III. A Rational Perspective on Solid Waste Governance: Abandon the Obsession with High-Value Resource Recovery
In the current stage, the industry is plagued by institutional gaps: unified standards are lacking for the classification of modified solid waste applications, landfilling criteria and cross-provincial transportation supervision, calling for cross-departmental collaboration to fill loopholes in standards and regulatory frameworks.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for bulk industrial solid waste governance. While high-value resource recovery remains an ideal target, blind pursuit of waste valorization is impractical amid a scenario where waste residue output vastly outstrips disposal capacity and stockpiling risks loom large. Under controllable risk conditions, scaling up low-cost, high-volume low-value disposal methods such as mine backfilling, valley landfilling and land reclamation better aligns with the industry’s real-world conditions.
In short, solid waste governance demands a clear hierarchy of priorities: harmless treatment as the fundamental safeguard, supplemented by selective resource utilization. Only this approach can fundamentally resolve the backlog of waste residues and break the industry’s long-standing predicament.
Hebi Starlight Environmental Protection
— Solid Waste Resource Utilization Solution Provider —
Mobile: +86 16663920002
Tel: +86 0392 2563669
Email: www@hbxgks.com
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