Conversion of gypsum waste into foamed construction material

A method of forming a foamed insulation material from gypsum waste having gypsum sandwiched between facing and backing papers, the method comprising:

• mechanically comminuting the gypsum waste from an original size into particles of gypsum at a target size smaller than the original size;
• mixing the particles of the gypsum from the mechanically comminuted gypsum waste with a binder to form a mixture of particles and binder, the binder being configured to bind the particles of gypsum upon hydration;
• performing air entrainment on the mixture until a foam is formed from the mixture having the particles of gypsum and binder, the foam having water that causes the binder to bind the particles of gypsum;
• and
• removing moisture from the mixture with the formed foam to form a foamed insulation material from the particles of gypsum, wherein the formed insulation material includes:
• about 30% to about 90% by dry weight of the particles of gypsum from the gypsum waste;
• about 2% to about 15% by dry weight of a paper waste;
• and wherein the foamed insulation material has:
• a dry density range of about 0.2 to about 0.4 g/cm3;
• a thermal conductivity ranging from 0.036 W/mK to 0.053 W/mK;
• and
• a resistance to heat transfer from RSI 0.189/cm to RSI 0.916/cm;
• and
• wherein the foamed insulation material has a microstructure that includes a scaffold structure formed by a plurality of paper waste fibers, the scaffold structure having interstitial voids and carrying the particles of gypsum bound to one another and to the scaffold material via the binder.