Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Sweden: Rockwool says that it plans to build a new 100,000t/yr stone wool insulation plant in Eskilstuna, Södermanland. When commissioned after June 2027, the plant will serve the Swedish and Finnish markets. It will run on low-carbon electricity from Sweden’s national grid.

Nordics regional managing director Frank Larsen said "Our customers are increasingly demanding low-carbon footprint building materials to achieve their own decarbonisation objectives as well as EU-wide targets in the Energy Efficiency and Energy Performance of Buildings directives. Rockwool's proprietary large-scale electrical melting technology, drawing on Sweden's abundant supply of low-carbon electricity, will help meet this need, which we expect to grow over time as the EU directives get implemented."

Finland: Stora Enso has launched NeoLigno, a bio-based binder for mineral and glass wool insulation, designed to replace formaldehyde and isocyanates. NeoLigno is produced from lignin, a byproduct from the pulp industry. Stora Enso says that it offers superior mechanical strength and performs better in humid conditions than classic binders.

Senior research and development specialist Sara Faldt said "We see no major modifications or redesigns needed in the production line for companies who wish to make the sustainable switch and implement NeoLigno."

Finland: Metso has launched the Outotec Mineral Wool Furnace, an electric furnace for mineral wool production. The new model is based on Metso's established proprietary equipment, used in ferroalloy and slag cleaning applications. As part of Metso's Planet Positive offering, the furnace offers reduced CO₂ emissions, high plant availability, extended life and an easily customisable modular design for specific applications.

Technology director Tom Ronnberg said “Demand for insulation materials is growing due to tightening energy efficiency requirements. At the same time, the insulation material industry is aiming for better efficiency and carbon neutrality in their production processes.”

Finland/Spain: Finland-based UPM Biochemicals and Spain-based URSA have developed a new type of glass wool insulation that uses a proprietary lignin-resin binder. The companies have worked together to optimise the binder composition for both performance and smooth runnability on URSA’s production lines. UPM Biochemicals says that UPM BioPiva lignin is a “sustainably produced, cost-effective and versatile raw material that has proven valuable in the creation of many value-added industrial applications, especially in lignin-based phenolic resins.”

Christian Hübsch, Director Sales & Marketing at UPM Biochemicals said “We are thrilled about having reached this milestone together with our partners from URSA, as it marks a potentially disruptive innovation for the insulation materials industry in general, and a great achievement for URSA with its long-held vision to go green and to reduce the carbon footprint of its products,”

Wolfgang Marka, Managing Director of URSA-Adria, added “We undertook long-term studies with UPM Biochemicals to assess the viability of replacing synthetic resins with a new bio-based binder and we are excited to produce one of the most sustainable glass wool insulation materials available.”

UPM Biochemicals develops and sells wood-based biochemicals for use in a variety of industries including insulation. It is building an industrial-scale biorefinery in Leuna, Germany to convert solid wood into biochemicals.

URSA produces both mineral wool and extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation products in Europe. It is a subsidiary of Etex.

Finland: Metsä Group has invested in wood fibre insulation producer Fiberwood in a late seed funding round. The round was led by Metsä Group’s new business and research subsidiary Metsä Spring. It also included government financing from Business Finland.

Fiberwood is developing and manufacturing wood fibre insulation and packaging materials made from mechanical wood industry side streams. The Finland-based company was founded in 2019.

Karita Kinnunen-Raudaskoski, the Director of Technology and Product Development at Fiberwood, said “Since September 2022, in our first phase of production we have been able to produce commercial-sized insulation boards for testing. Next, we will build a continuous pilot line for production-scale product and process development. As no existing machinery and processes can produce our products, we need to invent new technology to do so.”

Finland: The highest court in Finland has confirmed the finding of a serious infringement of antitrust laws by expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation materials producers at appeal. Mondaq Business Briefing News has reported that two materials producers must now pay a fine of Euro3.2m. A third producer, which provided information to the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority, received immunity for its involvement. The trio colluded on product pricing between November 2012 and mid-2014.

Finland: Owens Corning subsidiary Paroc has committed to reduce CO₂ emission by 50%, reduce plastics use by 30% and achieve zero waste by 2030. The company that it will also “expand the use of the Rewool customer waste recycling solution and develop and offer new low carbon products,” as exemplified by its launch of the new carbon-neutral product Paroc Natura line in early 2021.

Owens Corning Insulation Europe regional sustainability leader Beatrice Hallén said, “Paroc is in the business of energy efficiency. For each tonne of CO₂ generated in the manufacturing of stone wool, about 200t of CO₂ is saved by stone wool’s thermal insulation properties over a 50-year period. That does not mean we are content. We want to turn every stone to find new ways to make our general footprint as small as possible. We want to be forerunners in developing sustainable buildings together with our customers. We also want to design our products and solutions for recycling and reuse. For us, sustainability is about meeting the needs of the present while leaving the world a better place for the future.”

Netherlands: Nine-month restated sales for Recitel fell by 7.3% year-on-year to Euro924m in September 2019 compared to Euro997m in the corresponding period of 2018. Despite ‘double-digit’ volume growth, insulation sales over the period fell by 4.5% to Euro193m from Euro202m due to pricing issues stemming from the loss of market share to fibre insulation as a lingering after-effect of the isocyanate shortage of 2017. The company noted the ‘ramping-up’ of production at its new plant in Finland, with all products now certified for sale in the Nordic countries. Recticel CEO Olivier Chapelle noted the continued substantial decrease in debt as a positive in the period.

Finland: Paroc has started to introduce new logotype, updated packages and new communication material following its acquisition by Owens Corning. The insulation materials producer said that is was a ‘strong’ brand and that it would continue marketing its products under the red-and-white striped brand image. The company was purchased by US-based Owens Corning in early 2018.

Belgium: Recticel’s sales from its insulation division have rallied following the resumption on methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) supplies after a shortage in 2017 and poor weather in the first quarter of 2018. Its sales rose by 2.7% year-on-year to Euro129m in the first half of 2018 from Euro133m in the same period in 2017. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBTIDA) increased by 60.6% to Euro14.2m fro Euro22.8m. It attributed the growth in profitability to price rises and efficiency gains. The company also said that the construction of a new plant in Finland, dedicated to the supply of the Scandinavian and Baltics markets, is on schedule to start up in late 2018.