Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Germany: Measurement systems supplier Fagus-GreCon has announced the appointment of Mario Haas to its management team. Haas has served as head of the company’s fire protection unit since December 2019 and its head of information technology since December 2020. Haas joined Fagus-GreCon from glass producer SCHOTT in 2019. He has worked in industry since 2005, after gaining his engineering degree from Dortmund University and Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the Stuttgart Institute of Management and Technology. Mario Haas takes the place of former technical managing director Michael Gawronski on the management team, who has left the company with immediate effect. Uwe Kahmann will remain responsible for commercial management, while Alexander Kuppe continues to head the company’s marketing, sales, after sales and service departments.

Chair Stephan Weber said "The shareholders would like to thank Dr Gawronski for his important achievements and contributions and wish him all the best for the future. At the same time, with the appointment of Mr Haas as the third managing director, we are emphasising the growing importance of the fire prevention business unit in our company."

Hungary: Masterplast reported sales worth Euro114m during the first nine months of 2023. This represents a year-on-year decline of 31% from Euro164m in the corresponding period in 2022. The producer’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) losses were Euro2.93m, compared to a positive figure of Euro19.3m. During the third quarter of 2023, sales declined in Hungary by 45% and across its export markets by 26%. They rose by 21% in Poland, by 8% in Croatia and by 2% in Ukraine.

Masterplast attributed its sales decline to low demand due to global inflation and rising interest rates amid on-going lockdowns, energy crises and war in Ukraine, while energy-saving renovation initiatives have also been subject to delays. The company set a savings target of Euro2m/yr and laid off 250 employees, including 210 from its plants in Serbia. It completed the construction of new expanded polystyrene (EPS) and extruded polystyrene (XPS) capacity in Italy and Serbia, which it expects to bring online later in 2023.

Serbia: Masterplast has concluded a deal to acquire the outstanding 49% stake in mineral wool insulation producer Masterwool MW-1. Masterwool MW-1 is currently building a new Euro20m mineral wool insulation plant in Vojvodina. The project is supported by a grant from Hungarian state-owned Hungarian Export Promotion Agency (HEPA).

Masterplast plans to commence a Euro50m growth phase in the near-term future. It expects its sales to drop in the first half of 2023 due to negative trends in new home construction. However, it expects recent new expanded polystyrene (EPS) and extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation capacity to partly offset this.

Ireland: Kingspan's CO₂ emissions fell by 26% over the two years between 2020 and 2022. The group aims to achieve a 90% reduction in CO₂ emissions between 2020 and 2030. The Irish Times newspaper has reported that the company adopted a Euro70/t internal pricing mechanism in January 2023. Over the past three years, it increased its renewable energy share to 33% from 20%, increased its rainwater harvesting capacity by 26% and reduced its volume of waste sent to landfill by 42%.

Kingspan head of sustainability Bianca Wong said "It’s a testament to the enduring efforts of our colleagues that we completed over 100 projects in 2022. We will continue to build on our progress to date and aim to further accelerate our strategies in the coming years."

Germany: Knauf Insulation has launched new overwraps on its global insulation product portfolio. The new packaging reduces ink consumption by 70% through its design, featuring a white or off-white base hue and no more than one additional colour. The wraps are designed to maximise ease and efficiency and reduce cost of recycling. This is in line with Knauf Insulation's commitment to recycle over 25% of packaging by 2025. Within the same timeframe, it also aims to reduce its packaging's virgin plastic consumption by 25% and collect over 35% of delivery pallets for repair and reuse or recycling.

US: Global cement producer Holcim has successfully acquired leading US independent spray foam producer SES Foam. SES Foam has a track record of double-digit growth and expects to record sales revenues of US$200m in 2022, according to Holcim. The group says that the producer stands out for its value-added services to contractors, including onsite technical instruction, business consulting, branding and lead generation support.

Global head of solutions and products Jamie Gentoso said “I warmly welcome all SES employees into the Holcim family. With SES’ leadership in thermal insulation, we are expanding our range of innovative systems for sustainable buildings, from roofing to insulation, to enhance buildings’ energy-efficiency. We look forward to entering our next era of growth together.”

France: The Swiss multinational cement manufacturer Holcim has completed its acquisition of the French speciality building solutions producer PRB Group. The leading cement producer outside of China said that the acquisition will accelerate its transformation into a 30% solutions and products company in sales terms by 2025.

Europe, Middle East and Africa regional head Miljan Gutovic said “I warmly welcome all members of the PRB Group into the Holcim family. I’m excited about the outstanding expertise and passion they bring to our team in France. This is another exciting step in the expansion of solutions and products in the highly attractive repair and refurbishment market. We look forward to unleashing our next era of growth together to make cities greener with more energy-efficient and long-lasting buildings.”

US: Owens Corning’s 16th Sustainability Report has detailed the producer’s progress towards achieving its 2030 sustainability goals. The report covers indicators under 16 topics to demonstrate its environnmental footprint reduction. These included lowering greenhouse gas emissions, increasing recycled content and circularity, improving energy and process efficiency, increasing renewable energy use and fuel switching from on-site fossil fuel use to lower or zero-carbon alternatives. Between 2007 and 2021, Owens Corning reduced its CO₂ emissions by 60%. In 2021, it recycled 635,000t of glass in its glass wool insulation production.

CEO Brian Chambers and senior vice president and chief sustainability officer (CSO) Frank O'Brien-Bernini said "We have established roadmaps to help our teams understand what’s needed to meet our environmental footprint reduction goals. These roadmaps guide our short, mid and long-term strategies, and help ensure that sustainability remains our priority as we innovate to serve our customers, while addressing both the challenges and the opportunities within the relevant secular trends." They continued "Beyond environmental footprint reduction 'within' our plants, we are working to refine our understanding and set measurable goals for our impact on biodiversity and the circular economy, as well as continually seeking better ways to measure our progress on social impact priorities like inclusion and diversity.”

Germany: CertainTeed plans to build a 312kW solar power plant at its Berlin insulation centre. Construction is set to begin in 2022. Along with a similar project in its US plastic operations in Wayne, New Jersey, US, the plant’s construction aligns with the aims of parent company Saint-Gobain’s newly announced Grow and Impact sustainable expansion strategy.

CertainTeed CEO Mark Rayfield said “The new solar projects at our sites in Berlin and Wayne will reduce our company’s energy costs at these locations and support the broader transition to renewable, zero-carbon sources of power.”

Denmark: Rockwool has won the Long Term Value Creation prize at construction company EY and the Danish Chamber of Commerce’s Sustainability Awards 2021. The judges chose Rockwool for its clear ambitions for operating as a responsible businesse that positively impacts the sustainable transition, with demonstrated progress towards fulfilling those ambitions.

CEO Jens Birgersson said “Sustainability is firmly integrated into our overall business strategy. We pursue a fact-based, auditable approach to document progress in maximising our products’ positive impact while minimising the negative impact of our operations. Sustained long-term value creation is precisely what we seek to achieve.”