Knauf Insulation is committed to reducing its virgin plastic film packaging by 25% by 2025.
In the UK we are introducing packaging that uses a minimum of 30% recycled content in line with our For A Better World sustainability strategy.
The strategy commits Knauf Insulation to a 2025 target of reducing virgin plastic film consumption by more than 25% across the company.
Despite a shortage of materials, we have been able to maintain our momentum in the UK. We are on track for the implementation of the recycled packaging in our UK plants by the end of the first quarter of 2022 which also uses less ink.
More product with less plastic
More recycled packaging will be launched across our sites throughout 2022. We are also continuing to work on the overall packaging weight reduction where possible — without compromising the level of compression strength.
This is important because at many sites we use state-of-the-art compression technology to maximise the amount of insulation customers can get in a pack or pallet.
In the UK, for example, following the introduction of the new packaging, customers can get 15% more product per roll and 25% more pack per pallet.
The strength of our plastic packaging also allows us to compress our products and get more packs on each truck. For example, 5,800 m2 of 50 mm Mineral Plus can be delivered in a single truck with an 80 m3 capacity.
This reduces fuel use as well as the number of trucks on the road. The same amount of Rock Mineral Wool would need 3.6 trips.
Just recycling 30% of plastic would cut the embodied carbon of our products by 1%. As a company we are committed to reducing this carbon by 15% by 2025.
In addition, where possible, as part of our For A Better World strategy, we are committed to taking back between 25% and 50% of our plastic film from our customers for recycling by 2025.
Photo: Recycling 30% of plastic would cut the carbon generated throughout the entire lifecycle of Knauf Insulation products by 1%
Pallet project to reduce waste
Knauf Insulation is working with customers in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Turkey to collect wooden delivery pallets and reuse them.
Across Europe a staggering 25 million cubic metres of wood are used for distribution packaging and pallets.
According to the European Union, one cubic metre of wood is required to manufacture 22 new EUR-pallets — pallets specified by the European Pallet Association — while one cubic metre of wood can be used to repair 150 recycled EUR-pallets.
As timber pallets have the potential to last up to seven years it is essential these resources are recycled and reused. In Turkey, alone, our Eskişehir plant reused 6,270 pallets in 2020 saving a total of 87 tonnes of timber.
As part of Knauf Insulation’s For A Better World sustainability strategy, we have committed to collect 35% of wooden pallets used for our Glass Mineral Wool and sort, repair and recycle them.
Photo: Knauf Insulation is committed to collect and recycle 35% of wooden pallets used for our Glass Mineral Wool
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Enjoy our Annual Review 2021