Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

Germany: Knauf Insulation has launched new overwraps on its global insulation product portfolio. The new packaging reduces ink consumption by 70% through its design, featuring a white or off-white base hue and no more than one additional colour. The wraps are designed to maximise ease and efficiency and reduce cost of recycling. This is in line with Knauf Insulation's commitment to recycle over 25% of packaging by 2025. Within the same timeframe, it also aims to reduce its packaging's virgin plastic consumption by 25% and collect over 35% of delivery pallets for repair and reuse or recycling.

Denmark/Russia: The Association of Ukrainians in Denmark has launched a protest outside Rockwool's headquarters in Hedehusene to demonstrate against the company's continuation of activities in Russia via its local subsidiary. Local press has reported that Rockwool allegedly told the Association of Ukrainians in Denmark that divesting the Russian business would allow its profits and future cash flows to remain in Russia.

In October 2022, Rockwool clarified that it remains out of contact with its Russian business and views their relationship as a mere ownership of shares.

Finland: The highest court in Finland has confirmed the finding of a serious infringement of antitrust laws by expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation materials producers at appeal. Mondaq Business Briefing News has reported that two materials producers must now pay a fine of Euro3.2m. A third producer, which provided information to the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority, received immunity for its involvement. The trio colluded on product pricing between November 2012 and mid-2014.

Ireland: Kingspan’s sales rose by 33% year-on-year to Euro6.25bn in the first nine months of 2022. It said that insulated panel sales grew by 29% and insulation board sales grew by 48%. Panel sales were reported as holding up ‘reasonably well’ in the Americas, Germany and the UK but as being weaker elsewhere in Europe. Board sales increases were led by a rise in price.

UK: Insulation and cladding companies have blamed each other in a public inquiry investigating the Grenfell Tower Fire that took place in 2017 that led to 72 deaths. During closing statements to the inquiry the Press Association reports that the legal representation for Ireland-based Kingspan said, "In its phase one report the inquiry concluded that the cladding system on Grenfell Tower did not comply with the building regulations and that the PE ACM [polyethylene cladding] manufactured by Arconic was the principal reason for the rapid fire spread." The lawyer went on to summarise that Kingspan’s Kooltherm K15 phenolic insulation product was safe when used appropriately and not relevant to the nature and speed of the spread of the fire in this instance.

In a written statement though Arconic blamed the cause of the fire upon the failure by those involved in the refurbishment of the tower in assessing the fire performance of the building materials used and their configuration. It added, "A failure which was in significant part the result of the efforts made by the manufacturers of the insulation, Celotex and Kingspan, to hide or downplay the combustible and hence (under the prevailing regulatory regime) non-compliant nature of their product, an awareness of which would otherwise and in any event have led inexorably to the choice and configuration of the components being re-visited and amended."

The majority of the insulation purchased for use in a refurbishment of Grenfell Tower prior to the fire in June 2017 was Celotex’s RS5000 polyisocyanurate foam (PIR) insulation board. However, Kingspan confirmed in July 2017 that a small amount of its Kooltherm K15 product had also been used without its knowledge and that it had no involvement in the design or specification of the refurbishment.