Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Europe: Ireland-based Kingspan has signed an agreement with Germany-based wood products group Schramek to acquire a 51% stake in wood-based insulation producer Steico for an initial Euro251m. The Irish Times newspaper has reported that the group may pay more, if Steico reaches agreed-upon profitability thresholds. The agreement includes an option for Kingspan to also purchase a further 10% stake. Steico operates 27 insulation lines across four plants in Poland and France.

Kingspan CEO Gene Murtagh said “The acquisition of a majority stake in Steico represents an exciting next step in our strategy to provide the full spectrum of insulation products. Its suite of wood-based building envelope solutions broadens our ability to enable our customers to meet their sustainability and energy performance needs. Kingspan’s global routes to market, paired with our drive to innovate and widen the applications of Steico’s current technologies, are key to our plans to bring Steico bio-based solutions to the next level.”

Denmark: Saint-Gobain’s subsidiaries Isover and Leca have started an agreement with waste management company Norrecco to recycle glass wool insulation. Under the new system, contractors will be able to return used and excess Isover glass wool to Norrecco's waste treatment stations at Prøvestenen in Copenhagen and at Agerskov in Southern Jutland. Norrecco will then pass the glass wool to Leca Denmark’s plant at Hinge near Randers. Here it will be used as a raw material in the production of lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LWA) products. LWA is used in a variety of applications such as insulation or as a structural filler. Leca added that LWA can be recycled repeatedly.

Mona Ammitzbøll Rasmussen, the Sustainability Engineer at Saint-Gobain Denmark, said "From the moment our glass wool leaves the factory, we want to support the idea that the material will one day return and be used in the production of new insulation materials, rather than ending up in landfills. It is an unnecessary waste that we need to eliminate as soon as possible."

Leca Denmark has the capacity to accept around 1000t/yr of used or excess glass wool from the Danish market. The company said that, although it represents a small portion of the total production, it reduces the need to extract a corresponding amount of natural clay, which is the primary raw material in its Leca LWA product. Isover is also working on publishing guides to better help contractors sort between the different types of mineral wool to assess purity ahead of potential recycling.

Belgium: PU Europe has issued a statement to the relevant European bodies responsible for fluorinated gases (F-gases) emphasising the role of low global warming potential (GWP) of F-gases in insulation foam applications.

The association has suggested that, instead of total ban of F-gases, a lowering of the threshold should be considered as an alternative. In its view a lower threshold would allow the users of thermal insulation to continue to benefit from products made from closed-cell polyurethane foam. It warned that a ban on the use of low GWP F-gases in insulation foam would have “significant implications for the Renovation Wave, as approximately 80% of the buildings that will exist in 2050 have already been constructed.” PU Europe emphasises the need to find solutions that strike the right balance between addressing operating greenhouse gas emissions from the existing building stock and controlling low GWP F-gases.

The European Commission proposed in early 2022, as part of its so-called 'fit for 55' package, to further reduce emissions of F-gases. It wants to change the existing quota system, gradually reducing the supply of hydrofluorocarbons to the European Union market to 2.4 % of 2015 levels by 2048.

PU Europe was founded in 1981 as BING to become the single European voice for the polyurethane insulation industry. The association represents insulation producers, raw material suppliers and component manufacturers from eleven countries with activities covering the entire continent.

Croatia: Knauf Insulation plans to invest Euro120m in an expansion to its Novi Marof mineral wool insulation plant. Poslovni Dnevnik News has reported that the expansion will double the plant's capacity and create 70 new jobs. This is in line with Knauf Insulation's sustainability strategy. Work will commence in late 2023 and reach completion before the end of 2025.

UK: Testing provider the Building Research Establishment (BRE) has informed Kingspan and Saint-Gobain subsidiary Celotex of its decision to break off its relationship with them due to perceived 'reputational risk.' Insulation supplied by Kingspan (Kooltherm K15 phenolic insulation) and Celotex (RS5000 polyisocyanurate insulation) was present in Grenfell Tower, London, when it burned down in June 2017. 72 people died in the fire. Both producers deny having contributed to the disaster. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry investigated the relationship between each company and the BRE during its inquest into the fire. A final report is currently in preparation following the conclusion of Phase 2 hearings in 2022.

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry heard that Kingspan had marketed its Kooltherm K15 panels for general use in high rise construction, relying on tests carried out at a BRE facility with a system involving external fibre cement panels, of a sort not used in Grenfell Tower. Subsequent tests of the product, carried out by Kingspan, included one which resulted in a 'raging inferno.' Meanwhile, Celotex added fire-resistant board to a rig used in testing in 2014, reportedly to increase its products' chances of passing.

Inside Housing News has reported that BRE said “BRE no longer accepts any new work on behalf of Kingspan or Celotex following evidence heard during the course of this inquiry.”

Kingspan clarified that "There is no product performance basis for [BRE's] decision,” adding that its panels had shown zero non-conformities in their most recent audit in December 2022. It said “Independently of BRE, whose certification is regionally focused on the UK and Ireland, Kingspan is certified by the globally recognised insurer testing regime FM Approvals, which carries out annual factory surveillance audits to verify our products comply with its global approval standards."