Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

India: Saint-Gobain India plans to double its production capacities of glass and stone wool insulation as part of a new investment phase, targeting revenues of US$4.3bn across its businesses by 2032. The Hindu newspaper has reported that this represents growth by a factor of three from 2023 levels. Saint-Gobain India noted the presence of ‘medium-sized companies in the insulation space’ as suitable targets for acquisitions. The investment phase will include total capex of US$719 – 959m from 2021 to 2025. The company had invested US$1.58bn up to the end of 2023.

Asia-Pacific and India regional CEO B Santhanam said "We have made huge investments in India, and quite a lot of them were in new plants."

US: Owens Corning has published its 2023 Sustainability Report, highlighting its advances in sustainability in the past year. These included a 59% share of revenues from reduced-CO₂ products, with a 25% share of revenues from 14 products certified as produced with 100% renewable electricity. Scope 1 and 2 emissions fell by 28% from 2018 levels, in line with the group’s 50% 2030 reduction target. It launched a pilot bitumen felt shingle recycling programme, aimed at recycling 2Mt/yr of shingles in the US by 2030. Further, Owens Corning reduced its generation of landfill waste by 14% from 2018 levels, and launched a Circular Economy Recycling Technology Innovation Laboratory in Granville, Ohio. In 2023, the group’s incident rate was 81% below the industry average, and it remains on track to meet its 2030 inclusion and diversity goals.

Senior vice president and chief sustainability officer David Rabuano said “Our 2030 sustainability goals are growing ever closer, and we believe that the targets we have set for ourselves are well within our reach. This confidence is the result of our employees’ unparalleled engagement and enthusiasm for our mission coupled with our investments in the innovation required to execute new solutions.”

Chair and CEO Brian Chambers said “Owens Corning demonstrated outstanding financial and sustainability results in 2023, showcasing the power of our company’s mission to build a sustainable future through material innovation. This report reflects the global scope of our people and our products and the many ways they work to make the world a better place.”

Owens Corning recorded net sales of US$9.68bn in 2023, down by 1% from US$9.76bn in 2022, while its adjusted earnings before interest and taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 2% to US$2.31bn.

Belgium: Knauf Insulation has released its ‘Sustainability Journey: 2023 Highlights’ report. It reveals the company’s sustainability strategy achievements focusing on safety, employee engagement, decarbonisation and the circular economy.

The company reduced its absolute full-scope emissions for its mineral wool production by 8.2% year-on-year to 1.34Mt of CO₂e in 2022 from 1.46Mt in 2021, mainly due to a significant fall in Scope 2 emissions. it currently has a target to reduce its specific embodied carbon emissions by 15% from 2021 to 2025. The recycled content of its glass mineral wool products fell to 55% in 2022 from 64%, despite the company having a target of 65% by 2025. It explained that sourcing large volumes of recycled materials of sufficient quality had proved challenging in some markets. However, it did increase the recycled content of its rock mineral wool products to 13% from 11%, with a target of 25% set for 2024. It also reduced its total recordable incident rate by 8% to 5.9 from 6.4 against a target of below 5 for 2025.

Dominique Bossan, the chief executive officer for Europe, Middle East and Asia at Knauf Group, said “The report documents our progress towards achieving our 2025 sustainability targets. It shows the areas where we need to improve, celebrates where we have made positive progress and pays tribute to the hard work of our teams."

Belarus: Russia-based TechnoNICOL has bought a 15,000m² site in Minsk. PrimePress News has reported that the producer plans to build a US$333,000 distribution centre and storage facility for insulation and other products at the site. Additionally, the facility will store and distribute products from Knauf Insulation, Cerezit, Beltep, Skyprofile, Typhoon and Ilmax. TechnoNICOL plans to triple the total number of products it sells in Minsk, with a specific focus on its rough interior finishings portfolio.

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.

North America: Saint-Gobain has signed a 100MW solar power purchase agreement (PPA), called Danish Fields, with TotalEnergies. The Danish Fields PPA will supply Saint-Gobain North America with solar energy for 15 years, commencing in 2024. Saint-Gobain says that it expects the PPA to eliminate 90,000t/yr of CO₂ emissions across its operations. This is the group’s third deal of its kind.

Saint-Gobain North America CEO Mark Rayfield said “With this agreement, Saint-Gobain North America will further reduce its CO₂ emissions, demonstrating how fast the manufacturing industry can transform when long term solutions are at hand. This renewable energy project is a new milestone on the way to meeting Saint-Gobain’s commitment to reduce Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions by 33% by 2030 compared to 2017, and to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.”

US: Owens Corning has published its 2022 Sustainability Report, detailing its progress towards its 2030 sustainability goals during 2022. During the year, the insulation producer reduced its CO₂ emissions by 22% compared with 2018 levels, against a 2030 reduction target of 50%. It sourced 56% of its electricity renewably. It achieved this with the help of multiple power purchase agreements (PPA), including for on-site generation. It concluded a new 81.9MW virtual PPA in Spain, which will come online in stages throughout the rest of 2023 and 2024.

Senior vice president and chief sustainability officer David Rabuano said "In 2023 and beyond, sustainability will remain at the heart of our business and a critical value creator for Owens Corning, our customers and other stakeholders. As we shift into the next chapter of our sustainability strategy, we will build on the foundational efforts that have been central to sustainability within our organisation - and with the engagement of our 19,000 employees worldwide, we will take the action needed to reach the next level."

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."

Belgium: Recticel has joined the Science-Based Targets Initiative, reinforcing its commitment to institutional CO₂ emissions reduction grounded in climate science. Under the commitment, it set two new targets, namely to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions from its operations by 2030, and to achieve net zero Scope 3 CO₂ emissions by 2050.

The insulation producer said "Recticel looks forward to engaging with all partners in its value chain to join forces and drive progress. Our results against targets will be communicated in the annual report."

Romania: Knauf Insulation will invest Euro135m in expanding its Târnăveni glass wool insulation plant and building a new adjacent plant at the site. Knauf Insulation says that the major expansion will advance the Romanian government's 'energy savings offensive' by supporting a renovation drive for the country’s housing stock. The government aims to increase the national area of modern renovated properties by a factor of six, with a Euro30bn allocation from its Recovery and Resilience Fund.

Germany-based Knauf's managing partner Alexander Knauf said “The commitment demonstrates our trust and confidence in the country and our employees. We look forward to becoming part of the local community. Together, we are setting new standards for building and living in Romania.”

Operations at the original Târnăveni glass wool insulation plant recently recommenced following a Euro4m upgrade by Knauf Insulation, which completed its acquisition of the plant in May 2022. Previous owner Gecsat produced insulation at the site from 2008.