Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

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."

Europe: Dow has announced the European launch of V PLUS Perform Next, a polyurethane (PU) insulation product for use in insulated metal panels. V PLUS Perform Next insulation contains alternative raw materials from circular feedstocks, including bio-based feedstocks. Dow allocates the feedstocks based on a mass balance chain of custody, validated by International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC). It produces V PLUS Perform Next using over 25% renewable energy.

Dow PU construction insulation marketing fellow Alberto Mercati said “The new EU Energy Performance of Buildings directive adds urgency for buildings that require energy efficient insulation with decreased embodied carbon. For the last five years, V PLUS Perform has enabled insulated metal panel manufacturers to deliver building envelopes that couple energy efficiency and fire safety. V PLUS Perform Next supports insulated panel manufacturers to select lower carbon and circular construction ingredients from the design phase to the delivery of a novel class of products for more sustainable buildings.”

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.

Germany: Chemicals producer BASF has partnered with RAMPF Eco Solutions, Poland-based Remondis Electrorecycling and engineering company KraussMaffei to develop depolymerisation techniques to produce polyol from waste polyurethane (PU) fridge insulation, as an alternative to natural hydrocarbons. The recovered polyol could then be used as a raw material in PU insulation production.

BASF said "This innovative process is particularly challenging because it has to be very robust in order to reliably convert post-consumer waste with high levels of foreign substances into a high-quality recycled polyol.”

Waste fridge insulation's only current use is as an alternative fuel by the energy sector.

France: Saint-Gobain subsidiary Isover has begun construction of a prototype glass wool recycling plant in Chemillé-en-Anjou. Contractor Eiffage Génie Civil is executing the project, which is scheduled for commissioning in 2023.

Isover France and Switzerland technical director Jérôme Saulnier saud "The realisation of this revolutionary industrial prototype with fusion by immersed burners will make it possible to recycle glass wool in industrial quantities, transforming it into cullet. This cullet will be used in the manufacturing process of our insulating products and will also reduce our energy consumption, our carbon emissions and improve the life cycle of our products."

Kazakhstan: KazFeltec and Italy-based Cormatex plan to build a Euro10m natural wool insulation plant in Aktobe Region. Kazakhstan General Newsline has reported that the plant will use local coarse sheep’s wool, a waste product of which 3500t/yr is generated currently in Aktobe. The plant is scheduled for commissioning in mid-late 2023.

US: Saint-Gobain plans to invest a total of US$400m in expansions to its operations including insulation operations at four US sites. The group says that the sites are located in California and the Southeastern US. It said that the new capacities will apply the most advanced available technologies for industrial performance, safety and sustainability. This will reduce waste by 50% and CO2 emissions by 20% from current levels, according to the company.

Saint-Gobain said it hopes that the investments will strengthen its leadership in North America and accelerate its growth in the region by enriching its comprehensive range of solutions for light and sustainable construction.

US: Ireland-based Kingspan has acquired Minnesota Diversified Products, the producer of the DiversiFoam range of expanded polystyrene (EPS) and extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam and polyisocyanurate (PIR) foam billets. The group says that DiversiFoam will join Kingspan Insulation’s North American division and become a key proponent of its 10-year sustainability programme, Planet Passionate. It plans to expand the company’s Rockford EPS foam plastic recycling plant. Minnesota Diversified Products is committed to recycling 99% of production waste.

Managing Director Doug Crawford said "DiversiFoam and Kingspan are a natural fit from a geographic, technical and cultural perspective. The combination of these two outstanding businesses, coupled with Kingspan’s commitment to further investment will provide our collective customer base, our employees and our business partners with significant value. I am thrilled to welcome the DiversiFoam team into the Kingspan family.”

Netherlands: Germany-based Knauf has rolled out a waste glass mineral wool insulation recycling pilot project across the Netherlands. At a small cost, a Knauf partner company will take back leftover insulation from customers’ projects, which is remotely quantified and scheduled for collection by Knauf’s software system. The partner company recycles the insulation for use in bricks and tiles. Knauf Western Europe circular economy manager Marc Bosmans said, “The scheme saves our customers costs, gives them peace of mind that waste is being dealt with responsibly and lowers the environmental impact of their projects.”

Knauf has also launched a pallet pick-up pilot project. Under the scheme, customers can contact a Knauf partner company in order to have the pallets on which Knauf products were delivered collected for reuse, in line with the principles of the circular economy. Bosmans said, “Customers, particularly those on large sites, see a huge added value in this service and appreciate that it is a one-stop solution that is good for business and good for the environment.”