France: Etex has invested Euro25m towards upgrading four of its French Siniat polystyrene factories plants in its gypsum division. The investment is intended to reinforce Siniat's market share of exterior polystyrene-backed plasterboards for insulation.

Euro12m has been allocated to the Rantigny plant to raise its annual production capacity of back liners and insulating façade panels to 500,000m3. Euro7m will go to the Château-Gontier factory plant and Euro5.5m to the Loriol plant to expand and automate production capacity. Euro0.5m will be used to complete the production line at the Villeneuve-sur-Lot plant.

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."

Uzbekistan: Production of insulation and soft roofing materials rose by 7.8% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2013. The percentage rise was slightly behind the increase for all building materials, the production of which rose by 9.9% year-on-year.

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.