Knauf Insulation’s new project in Germany offers customers an easy, environmentally responsible way to collect scrap Mineral Wool and transform it back... into new Mineral Wool.
More than a thousand bags of scrap Mineral Wool have now been brought back from construction sites in Germany for recycling as part of our RESULATION initiative.
Rather than sending waste to landfill, RESULATION offers our customers across Germany an easy, environmentally responsible way to recycle onsite scrap Mineral Wool.
After an order has been placed, RESULATION bags are delivered to customer’s sites and filled with any residue. When bags are full, this scrap is then collected and fed back into our recycling processes.
Thanks to RESULATION it is now possible to transform Rock Mineral Wool residue into ‘recycling bricks’ which can be used in the production of new Rock Mineral Wool and allow Glass Mineral Wool scrap to be transformed into ceiling tiles.
Prior to the RESULATION initiative customers faced the challenge of sending scrap to landfill and working with waste disposal companies.
In July, we collected our thousandth bag of scrap in Germany, and we are now aiming to significantly increase the volume we collect and recycle through our partnership with Knauf Group’s residual materials and recycling expert GFR.
GFR has invested in press containers which allow the collection and compression of larger quantities of insulation residues.
These have been delivered by Knauf Insulation to high volume customers such as manufacturers of prefabricated homes and when they are full they are returned for recycling.
RESULATION is available to all Knauf Insulation customers for Rock Mineral Wool, Glass Mineral Wool and Wood Wool and plays an important role in our ‘For A Better World’ sustainability strategy.
Supporting circular economy in France
Knauf Insulation and Knauf have joined 24 other pioneering firms to establish a new non-profit eco-organisation known as Valobat to fulfil new circular economy obligations in France.
From January 1, 2022, under the French Anti-Waste Law For A Circular Economy, manufacturers of building materials such as windows, carpets and insulation “will have the financial responsibility for the end-of-life of their products”.
The French Circular Economy law is driven by the ‘polluter pays principle’ and introduces the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for construction materials which means companies putting construction products on the market must finance what happens to them at the end of their life — a cost which is factored into a product’s price.
Already many products such as batteries, tyres or textiles are covered by ‘polluter pays’ regulation in France, but until now areas such as construction waste, sports equipment, toys or DIY materials have not been included. Valobat is what is known as a ‘green-dot organisation’, created to fulfil this requirement in the name of its members.
The organisation will develop the free collection of separated waste, the treatment of illegal building waste dumping sites, the development of recycling channels and the improvement of local waste collection sites. These initiatives are financed by ‘eco-contributions’ from building material manufacturers.
Valobat has members in a wide range of construction product families including wood, metals, floor coverings, plastics and Glass and Rock Mineral Wool and “encourage virtuous sorting at source and organise the recovery of materials collected separately in its network of collection points”.
• For more information visit www.valobat.fr
Photo in the top: A RESULATION collection of Knauf Insulation Mineral Wool waste at a construction site in Germany
Enjoy our Annual Review 2021