Gypsum industry news

Canada: Saint-Gobain subsidiary CertainTeed Canada has announced the upcoming launch of BasCarbone, a new range of 60% reduced-CO₂ gypsum wallboard. The company will produce BasCarbone wallboard at its carbon-neutral Montreal plant in Quebec.

Romania: Saint-Gobain Romania has completed construction of a new 1730-panel solar power plant at its Turda gypsum wallboard plant in Cluj County. Electronics retailer Visual Fan supported the project, which will contribute ‘significantly’ to meeting the plant’s energy consumption. When commissioned, it will reduce the Turda plant’s CO₂ emissions by 238t/yr. Romania’s government partly funded the installation under its National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Saint-Gobain Romania CEO Ovidiu Păscuțiu said “This project represents an important step for Saint-Gobain in the direction of adopting renewable energy and reinforcing our commitment to the environment. It is a concrete example of investments made to optimise our production processes by reducing internal energy consumption. We have an ambitious sustainability goal – net zero carbon emissions by 2050. We will achieve this by investing in innovation, new technologies and a portfolio of solutions that pave the way for lightweight and sustainable construction.”

Australia: Saint-Gobain subsidiary CSR plans to expand its Welshpool gypsum wallboard plant in Western Australia. The producer plans to upgrade the plant’s production line and expand warehouses that serve it and the neighbouring Bradford building materials plant. CSR said that the upgrade to the Welshpool wallboard plant will reduce its consumption of natural gas and electricity and facilitate its transition to alternative fuels or electricity.

CEO Paul Dalton said "This significant investment will make Welshpool safer and more sustainable, increase capacity and improve productivity and cost efficiency, all while removing risk from our supply chain.”

US: The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is receiving public comment on its revised 2021 Climate Protection Program, under which natural gas users, including gypsum wallboard producers, will face tighter emissions regulations. The programme will enable plants to buy credits for emissions above regulation level, with the money raised primarily going to fund community-based projects. Local press has reported that the revised rules aim to help realise a 50% reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2035 and a 90% reduction by 2050. The latest revision also shortens companies’ compliance period from three years to two.

Germany: Chemicals company BASF's sales fell by 19% year-on-year to €37.3bn in the first half of the 2024 financial year (FY2024). Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) declined by 34% to €4.72bn. As a result, the company now anticipates full-year sales of €73 – 76bn in FY2024, down from the previously forecast €84 – 87bn. It revised its earnings forecast to €4 – 4.4bn, from €4.8 – €5.4bn previously. At the same time, it increased its anticipated reduction in CO₂ emissions for the year. It now expects to generate 17 – 17.6Mt of CO₂ from its operations, down from its previously forecast 18.1 – 19.1Mt.

Belgium: Etex says that it ‘considerably’ progressed its Road to Sustainability 2030 plan during 2023. That year, safety intensity increased by 7%, and Etex established a global diversity, equity and inclusion ambassador community of 110 volunteers across 26 countries. In Europe, the company achieved 70% Environmental Product Declaration coverage as a percentage of its turnover, up from 58% in 2022. Etex raised its total use of recycled materials to 7.6%, and achieved a 23% reduction in Scopes 1 and 2 CO₂ compared to 2018 levels, in line with its 2030 target of 35%.

CEO Bernard Delvaux said “In the EU, more than 40% of energy consumed is used in buildings and more than 30% of energy-related greenhouse gasses emissions come from buildings. Next to new building activities, and according to current high energy standards, renovating old building stock should hence be a top priority. With our portfolio of building materials such as glass wool and extruded polystyrene insulation, gypsum wallboard, fibre cement boards and fire protection materials, Etex has the solutions to reach the ambitious targets. But in view of the huge challenge, a holistic and effective plan to boost renovation is needed, to finance and simplify the renovation process, in each of the EU countries.”

UK: Adaptavate has inaugurated its first pilot line to produce Breathaboard bio-based alternative wallboard. Breathaboard performs in the same way as ordinary gypsum wallboard, but sequesters and avoids additional CO₂ emissions, reducing the board’s total carbon footprint by 4kg/m². Adaptavate's production process uses fibrous and cellulosic by-products from agricultural crops, combined with minerals. It has a minimal water footprint and does not require natural gas.

Chief technical officer Jeff Ive said "The commissioning of our pilot line is the culmination of a year's hard work. We knew the solution had to be scalable for significant impact. With full-size boards produced on a continuously extruded process, we’re turning our vision into reality. This pilot line is a game changer for us, our industry, and the planet, laying the foundation for global replication of our core innovation."

Italy: Saint-Gobain has entered into a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Switzerland-based utilities provider Axpo Holding. Under the agreement, Axpo Holding will supply 22GWh/yr of renewable electricity from a newly built wind farm in Puglia. The deal will fulfil 11% of Saint-Gobain's Italian energy needs across 10 sites.

The latest PPA with Axpo Italia is Saint-Gobain's fifth in Italy. Collectively, these will bring the group’s reliance on renewables in its Italian operations to 20%.

Canada: CertainTeed Canada has begun upgrading its Montréal gypsum wallboard plant to convert the plant to net zero Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions. The producer says that the plant will become the first net-zero facility of its kind in North America.

Europe/US: Tristan Suffys, secretary general of Eurogypsum, the European gypsum association, presented the association’s net zero roadmap at the Global Gypsum Conference 2023 in Chicago, US, on 9 November 2023. Live and online audiences heard Eurogypsum’s full life cycle-based carbon footprint analysis, according to which European gypsum wallboard currently generates CO₂ emissions of 2kg/m², 14% lower than 2008 levels. On its pathway to net zero by a deadline of 2050, Eurogypsum plans to reduce wallboard’s CO₂ emissions from raw materials by 13%, from transport by 12%, from production by 69% and from end-of-life processes by 6%.

Suffys said “Presenting our roadmap today in Chicago is a clear signal that global warming requires global action. We want to engage with other regional actors along the way to climate neutrality.”

Eurogypsum president Jörg Ertle added “We are committed to making this transition a reality. First examples show that we can move towards net-zero emission production if we have access to low-carbon energy at affordable costs and optimal raw material supply, but this will require significant investment from our sector.”