Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Sika has completed the acquisition of Rmax Operating, a US-based producer of polyiso insulation products, on 31 January 2017. The deal was originally announced in mid-December 2016. Sika has said that the purchase is intended to bolster its presence in North America, particularly in roofing, sealants and waterproofing markets.

Belgium: BASF has increased the methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) production capacity to 0.65Mt/yr from 0.56Mt/yr at its Verbund plant in Antwerp. MDI is used to manufacture polyurethanes, which are used in insulation production and other materials.

UK: Simon Storer has been appointed as the chief executive of the British Rigid Urethane Manufacturers Association (BRUFMA) with effect from 9 January 2017. Previously, Storer was the Head of Communications at BACTA, the trade body representing the British amusement industry. Before this he worked as the External Affairs Director at the Construction Products Association (CPA) for seven years. He has also worked for the architect Levitt Bernstein, Shoreditch New Deal for Communities project and for the Channel Tunnel project during its construction phase.

Kyrgyzstan: The Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund plans to expand a thermal foam insulation plant at Besh-Kungei in the Chui region in 2017. The project will cost US$1.67m, with 66% of the funding provided by the Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund and the remainder by local businesses. The upgrade is part of a umbrella of investments being made by the fund in 2017.

UK: MDF Recycling has completed proof of concept trials to develop a process to recover wood fibre from waste medium-density fibreboard (MDF). The solution generates a new raw material source for the wood and natural fibre industries. The company says that the recovered fibre is of the same quality as standard wood fibre and that it can provides feedstock to the manufacturers of MDF board, insulation products and horticultural growing products.

“We have already begun discussions with a number of leading companies and organisations operating in the MDF production and waste industries and look forward to progressing these during the early part of 2017,” said co-founder and Managing Director Craig Bartlett. He added that the recycling process was a ‘genuine world first.’

MDF Recovery has set up an advisory panel to help it commercialise the company’s technology.