Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Hungary: Masterplast and Poland-based Selena FM have restarted the 19,000t/yr Szerencs glass wool insulation plant, with a view to resuming full-scale production later in 2025. Bne IntelliNews has reported that the partners invested €47.5m in the project, including €14m in funding from the Hungarian government. When fully operational, the plant will supply glass wool insulation for the domestic and Central and Eastern European markets.

India: The Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry has launched an investigation into imports of ‘faced glass wool in rolls’ from China. GuruClub Live News has reported that the investigation arose from an application submitted by local producer Twiga Fiberglass.

Austria: Knauf Insulation will build a €30m, 10,000t/yr mineral wool recycling plant at Ferndorf in Villach, Carinthia. When commissioned in late 2026, the plant will recycle both glass and stone wool insulation. Kleine Zeitung Online News has reported that the process will consist of melting and granulation of the materials for use in subsequent insulation production.

The Austrian government will introduce a landfill ban for mineral wool from January 2027, but the country currently has no recycling plants for the material.

UK: Indinature has secured approval for the use of its IndiBreathe hemp insulation in two UK Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) home insulation schemes. IndiBreathe will be the first natural fibre insulation used in such a scheme in the UK when it debuts in the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) and Energy Company Obligation 4 (ECO4) initiatives. Construction Index News has reported that utilities provider Scottish Power sponsored Indinature’s application for the approval.

Sales Director Brian Monaghan said "Contractors can now specify a natural, sustainable and healthy high-performance insulation product when installing loft insulation under the government schemes."

UK: Knauf Insulation plans to build a €202m, 100,000t/yr stone wool insulation plant in Shotton, Flintshire. The new Shotton plant will produce reduced-CO₂ insulation using a submerged arc furnace (SAF). It will be Knauf Insulation’s second in North Wales, along with its existing Queensferry stone wool insulation plant, also in Flintshire. The company’s other UK plants are in Cwmbrân, Gwent, and St Helens, Merseyside.

Managing director of Knauf Insulation Northern Europe Neil Hargreaves said "This project aligns with the Welsh and UK governments’ commitments to sustainability and the industrial vision for North Wales and Deeside. Using UK-first SAF technology, the new factory will support the need for safer, more energy efficient and sustainable buildings."

The new Shotton plant accords with the UK government’s €190m plans for a Flintshire and Wrexham Investment Zone, centred on ‘advanced manufacturing’ and intended to attract €1.19bn of private investments.

Türkiye: The Turkish government has introduced new rules for thermal insulation of residential buildings. Fakti News has reported that the newly enacted standard TS 825 will require new homes to be designed to meet both ‘heating and cooling’ needs. This is intended to keep housing operating efficiently under increasingly extreme seasonal climactic conditions.

Property industry body IS & Partners reportedly said that the rules “Will lead to an increase in the cost of projects, and hence to an increase in the prices of purchasing or renting a home” by as much as 25%. It may additionally increase consumer interest in the ‘secondary’ market in existing homes, IS & Partners added.

New Zealand: Parliament has passed the Building Act, allowing the import of ‘thousands’ of building products, including gypsum wallboard, insulation and cladding systems. The act allows for cited standards, according to which the Minister for Building Construction will be able to issue a notice to recognise overseas product standards and certification schemes for local use.

UK: The government has accepted the recommendations of a public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster, in which 72 people died in a fire that spread through exterior cladding systems in a residential block in London. The Guardian newspaper has reported that the inquiry recommended actions against seven different organisations that share in responsibility for the spread of the deadly fire. The inquiry's final report named these organisations as Kingspan Insulation, Saint-Gobain Construction Products, Harley Facades and testing company Exova Group, along with aluminium and bonded sheets producer Arconic Architectural Products, property development and management company Rydon Maintenance and architecture firm Studio E Architects. Additionally, the report recommended the introduction of a unified regulatory body for the construction industry and the consolidation of fire safety matters under the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said "The final report exposed in stark and devastating detail the shocking industry behaviour and wider failures that led to the fire, and the deep injustices endured by the bereaved, survivors and residents.”

UK Shadow Housing and Communities Secretary Kevin Hollinrake told Parliament that criminal charges against those responsible must follow ‘where evidence allows.’

Indonesia: A new tariff on imports of mineral wool will enter effect in Indonesia later in February 2025. China Trade Remedy Information News has reported that that the government will set the duty at US$1.24/kg of product for its first year in force. It will subsequently decline to US$1.12/kg in 2026 and US$1/kg in 2027.

The Indonesian Committee on Safeguards first initiated a safeguard investigation into mineral wool dumping in July 2023 and announced its positive ruling on the matter on 16 September 2024.

Ukraine: City authorities in Dnipro, Eastern Ukraine, have installed insulation in six blocks of flats under the national Energodim renovations programme. Business World Magazine News has reported that work is also underway at seven further blocks of flats. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development supplied loans for the renovations.

Dnipro lies 130km inside Ukraine’s front line against the on-going Russian invasion of the country.