Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

UK: Belgium-based Etex has concluded a deal to acquire glass wool insulation producer Superglass. Superglass operates the Stirling glass wool insulation plant in Stirling, Scotland, and employs 200 people. Etex says that the acquisition will increase its number of employees in its insulation division, which operates 11 plants across Europe, to 1500, and its total UK-based employees to 1300. Etex already produces gypsum wallboard, fibre cement sidings and slates and fibre cement corrugated sheets in the UK.

CEO Bernard Delvaux said “Etex has a clear focus to be the most innovative and sustainable global lightweight building material manufacturer. Joining forces with Superglass today is a great step forward on our growth path in insulation, just one year after we acquired URSA. The need for energy efficient and sustainable buildings is crucial, and Superglass and URSA are a perfect answer for it.”

Germany: Grenzebach says that it has completed the construction of the Hütten wood fibre insulation plant in Bavaria's Neustadt an der Waldnaab District for Ziegler Group subsidiary Naturheld. The plant took a total of 12 months to build, and will run on 100% renewable energy. Naturheld will use waste wood from Ziegler Group's wood processing operations in the region. Grenzebach says that it developed a novel wood blending system for implementation at the plant. The supplier said that the plant has a wood fibre production capacity of 6t/hr, and is capable of expanding to 10t/hr. The plant gives Ziegler Group the capacity to produce 1.5Mm²/yr of its wood fibre insulation product.

Managing director Stefan Ziegler said "Building the wood fiber insulation board plant within such an extremely short period was possible only thanks to the close cooperation with a renowned automation partner of international standing like Grenzebach. As a solution provider, Grenzebach supplied both the necessary product and technical know-how and expertise and was able to make the required capacities available at all times."

Croatia: Austria-based Austrotherm plans to invest Euro12m in the construction of a new expanded polystyrene insulation plant in Zabok, near Zagreb. SeeNews has reported that the plant is scheduled for commissioning in early-mid 2024. When operational, Austrotherm expects it to employ 30 people.

Chief executive officer Klaus Haberfellner said "More than 60% of Croatian homes are poorly insulated or not insulated at all." He added "There is also significant potential for insulation of buildings on the popular Croatian Adriatic coast."

Azerbaijan: Russia-based Technostyle has indicated its intention to launch its polyisocyanurate (PIR) sandwich panel insulation on the Azerbaijani market.

The Azerbaijan Industry Review newspaper has reported that Technostyle's PIR panels project manager Aleksey Demyanov said "We are confident in the quality of our sandwich panels and engineering solutions, which can significantly contribute to the construction industry. We strive to become reliable partners for Azerbaijani construction companies, offering them advanced technologies and helping them to implement ambitious projects."

Belgium: Recticel has launched a new range of polyurethane insulation board products that contain 25% bio-circular raw materials. The new ‘Impact’ range reduces CO₂ emissions by an average of 43% compared to a standard board while offering equivalent insulation performance. These new products are an important element of Recticel's proactive approach to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, as committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

The Belgium-based insulation producer also completed its divestment of its Engineered Foams division in mid-June 2023. The bulk of the business was sold to US-based Carpenter Co for an enterprise value of around Euro454m with two UK-based units sold to GIL Investments, as part of the competition clearance provided by the UK Competition & Markets Authority (CMA). Following the divestment of its Engineered Foams division, Recticel has become solely an insulation manufacturer.