Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

UK: Knauf Insulation has announced that from August 2013 all four of its UK manufacturing plants will send zero waste to landfill.

The achievement marks a significant milestone in the manufacturer's sustainability journey, in which it is constantly developing its products and processes to contribute towards greener and more energy efficient environments.

At its glass mineral wool sites in St Helens (where the company's headquarters are also based) and at Cwmbran in Wales, Knauf Insulation has introduced a number of measures to divert both production and office-generated waste. Baled glass wool waste is re-used by a ceiling tile manufacturer, while mixed glass wool and incidental packaging waste is collected by a recycling partner and re-processed for use as underground bedding.

Other waste is segregated at source to enable efficient recycling. A 'Bin the Bin' campaign was introduced as part of EcoWorks, an employee initiative designed to encourage best practice techniques and education around sustainable behaviour. Clearly marked recycling bins, desktop recycling folders and skips for cardboard and polythene have been distributed throughout the facilities, so that the waste can then be collected and recycled.

Kevin West, Health, Safety, Security and Environmental Manager at Knauf Insulation's St Helen's plant, commented, "As the UK's leading insulation manufacturer and the third largest manufacturer of insulation in the world, we take our social and environmental responsibilities seriously. True sustainability is about much more than simply producing 'green' products. It must be an integral part of the business, which is what we have sought to accomplish with our waste management strategy. Reaching zero waste to landfill is a fantastic achievement and is a clear demonstration of Knauf Insulation's commitment to improving our environmental performance."

US: A fire was reported at an Owens Corning insulation warehouse in Newark, Ohio on 14 August 2013. According to the Newark Advocate, a fire broke out in the building materials producer's No. 77 warehouse containing bales of insulation.

Chuck Hartlage, senior communications leader at Owens Corning, confirmed that 30 employees were working in the building at the time and left the site safely. Production in the pipe insulation and mineral wool insulation plants was unaffected. Loading the operation in the main warehouse resumed on the same day. No cause for the fire has been found.

US: Johns Manville (JM) has earned a significant rebate from Energizing Indiana, Richmond Power & Light (RP&L) and the Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMPA) for energy-efficiency improvements to its Richmond Insulation Systems facility in Indiana.

Through its participation in Energizing Indiana's Commercial & Industrial Prescriptive Rebate Programme, JM received a US$68,554 rebate for implementing energy-efficient lighting improvements designed to help the facility reduce its energy usage and promote cost savings. The rebate is the largest issued thus far to any of IMPA's 59 member communities involved in the Energizing Indiana programme. The retrofit project cut the facility's lighting energy consumption by approximately 80% and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1800t/yr of carbon dioxide, over 9t/yr of sulfur dioxide, and approximately 2.25t/yr of nitrogen oxide. 



Zane Carpenter, JM's manager for Energy Engineering, said that the project is a good example of JM's commitment to sustainability, saying, "This retrofit project provides a reduction in energy usage that helps the utility curtail the need to add capacity to the grid. It helps reduce greenhouse gas emission derived from electricity production. It helps the community by injecting money into the economy and putting people to work, including the lighting designers, manufacturers and local contractors. It also helps the business maintain a healthy bottom line by reducing overall operating costs. It's really a win for the company, the community, the utility and the environment."

Russia: Penoplex has started its eighth insulation materials plant at Novomoskovsk, Russia, at a cost of over Euro11.4m. The plant has a production capacity of up to 0.3Mm² expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulating foam. The company produces about 2.5Mm²/yr of thermal insulation material. It manufactures extruded materials, such as products for heat insulation and water-proofing, The Russian-based insulation producer has a total of 50 distributors across Russia.

US: Owens Corning has reported a rise in adjusted earnings of 5% to US$69m in the second quarter of 2013 compared to US$67m in the same period of 2012.

The company's consolidated net sales fell slightly to US$1.35bn from US$1.39bn. The building materials manufacturer's adjusted earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) improved by 6% to US$124m in the second quarter of 2013 from US$17m in the same period in 2012. Also of note in the quarter, in June 2013 Owens Corning acquired Thermafiber, a mineral wool insulation manufacturer.

"We are pleased with our progress in the second quarter and the first half of 2013, with strong margin performance in our Roofing business, price increases and operating leverage in Insulation and improved performance in Composites," said chairman and chief executive officer Mike Thaman.

In its outlook the company expected profitability to improve in 2013 compared to 2012 due to company action, an improving US housing market and moderate global growth. The company expects stronger insulation volumes in the second-half of 2013 driven by residential construction, high capacity utilisation and improved pricing.