One of the key principles of rational environmental management is finding ways to recycle by-products. Gypsum-bearing waste such as phosphogypsum (PG) is a large-scale waste. Resolving the problem of its accumulation is a global challenge. Phosphogypsum is a by-product of orthophosphoric acid and phosphate fertilizer production. PG mainly consists of calcium sulfate dihydrate and can be considered as an alternative to natural gypsum rock in gypsum binder production. However, previous studies have shown that the structural and morphological features of PG particles are the cause of the high water demand of phosphogypsum binders (PGB) and the resulting low physical and mechanical properties of consolidated phosphogypsum paste. This study examined the possibility of increasing PGB efficiency by increasing their dispersion, including by grinding. The study found that grinding PGB after calcination generally improves its properties and can be recommended as an effective manufacturing technique for reducing the impact of the structural and morphological properties of phosphogypsum from various sources on the quality of the final product. The compressive strength of PGB after grinding to a specific surface area of ≈480 m2/kg ranged from 3.06 to 5.41 MPa after 2 hours of mixing and from 6.78 to 13.68 MPa in the dry state.

Issues of industrial waste recycling are very relevant for the entire global scientific community. The search for technological solutions that would allow the production of high-quality materials using industrial waste will not only reduce the environmental load, but also expand the raw material base for the production of gypsum materials. The study examined the possibility of improving the surface quality of molded gypsum samples by replacing the metal mold with a plastic one and introducing a surfactant into the raw mixture. As a result of the research, it was found that the use of a surfactant and a plastic mold allows to avoid defects on the surface of the samples. At the same time, the use of a plastic mold, which has low adhesion to the citrogypsum-based binder, helps to reduce the amount of adhesion friction and optimize the raw mixture compaction process. This makes it possible to obtain samples with improved physical and mechanical characteristics (compressive strength increases by 30–85.5%, average density - by 1.7–2.7% and water absorption decreased by 1.7–16%) or lower consumption of binder up to 20% compared to samples prepared in metal mold.