Phosphogypsum‑made Shopping Bags Debut in Guiyang
From July 26 to 27, 2025, a special booth popped up simultaneously at three commercial venues: Midea Youran Plaza in Guanshanhu District, Dashanghai Wanda Plaza in Yunyan District and Longwan Wanda Plaza in Huaxi District, Guiyang, displayed at the booth were distinctive shopping bags, attracting crowds of local citizens to touch and lift them. This marked the first large‑scale public appearance of anhydrous gypsum shopping bags developed by Guizhou Phosphate Chemical Green Environmental Protection Industry Co., Ltd. (GPC Green Environmental Protection Company).
The bags feel much like conventional plastic shopping bags, yet they adopt different raw materials. Ordinary plastic bags are made of pure resin, while these innovative bags are produced from resin blended with high‑quality anhydrous gypsum. The high‑quality anhydrous gypsum is derived from phosphogypsum, the major by‑product generated during phosphoric acid manufacturing.
Guizhou is endowed with abundant phosphate ore resources. Nevertheless, long‑term stockpiling of phosphogypsum occupies substantial land and brings about environmental hazards such as leachate leakage. Through technological breakthroughs, GPC Green Environmental Protection Company converts phosphogypsum with moisture content as high as 40% into high‑quality anhydrous gypsum "recrystallized calcium". Harmful substances are greatly reduced, and its whiteness and fineness are comparable to high‑grade fillers. Blended with resin, recrystallized calcium forms special masterbatch suitable for blow‑molding process, from which the exhibited shopping bags are blow‑molded.
Shopping bags manufactured from recrystallized calcium deliver reliable flexibility, load‑bearing capacity and water resistance. One visitor engaged in the building‑materials business requested samples on the spot for further research. “If proven feasible, we may launch joint production in the future, and I can leverage my channel resources to export the products overseas,” he commented.
Shopping bags represent only one entry‑point application of phosphogypsum in polymer materials. Recrystallized calcium can also be processed into building materials, cementitious materials, municipal pipes and packaging boxes, with zero wastewater discharge throughout production. To date, GPC Green Environmental Protection Company has secured an order with Lesso Technology (Guiyang) Co., Ltd., supplying 1,000 tons of phosphogypsum‑based recrystallized calcium every month to replace calcium carbonate in pipe‑making raw materials.
From stockpiling in slag yards to being held in people’s hands, phosphogypsum is being transformed into tangible, usable commodities.
