Gypsum industry news

UK: Claude-Alain Tardy, the president of Saint-Gobain's gypsum and insulation activities, has warned that a UK exit from the European Union (Brexit) could 'destabilise' the wider European economy as well as impacting the UK market. Tardy made the comments while speaking to Building in Prague and Building News then reported his comments. France and western Europe represented 70% or Euro27.7bn of the group's sales revenue in 2015. The UK will hold a referendum on membership of the European Union on 23 June 2016.

UK: Etex Group has merged Siniat, Promat and EOS Facades to create Etex Building Performance UK. The new division will combine technical knowledge and research and development resources in the dry construction sector. Etex intends to create new products aimed at reduced installation times whilst catering to specifiers' requirements.

The division will employ over 500 people, with production sites in Bristol, Yorkshire and County Durham. It will be led by Neil Ash, the managing director of Siniat UK, who will become Head of Etex Building Performance UK. Each company will continue to trade separately in the UK as Siniat, Promat and EOS Facades.

"Our vision is singular - to be the leading expert in dry construction, concentrating our efforts on creating solutions for the buildings of tomorrow. The three brands within Etex Building Performance complement each other and are well known for their innovation, high-quality manufacturing and technical know-how," said Ash.

Siniat produces drywall products and Promat specialises in passive fire protection. Siniat acquired EOS Facades, a provider of Steel Frame Systems, on 8 April 2016,

UK: British Gypsum has partnered with contractor Willmott Dixon to enhance its existing site quality course with a bespoke training programme. As part of a new approach to industry training, British Gypsum built a custom made, full-scale construction site known as the 'Recapping Zone', in which Willmott Dixon employees were tasked with locating over 40 staged faults that could occur in real life scenarios on projects.

British Gypsum took a similar approach to that of a real-life build when constructing the zone, consulting with architects, designers and course facilitators. At present, 436 Willmott Dixon employees have completed the course, and a refresher programme will be run to recap and update the training.

"We worked in close collaboration with Willmott Dixon to deliver the course and also train staff to deliver the course themselves. We combined traditional training methods with hands-on activities to help Willmott Dixon employees take a more practical approach to training in a realistic scenario," said David Hall, National Technical Academy Manager for British Gypsum. "It is our aim to provide the next generation of installers in the interiors sector with information about the latest systems and techniques."

UK: British Gypsum has revealed the winners of its National Trophy Awards, which aim to celebrate craftsmanship and skills in using traditional plaster and modern plasterboard systems.

Now in its 10th year, the awards recognise the contribution that contractors make to the UK construction industry on a daily basis, with accolades presented to the following developments across six categories:

• Norwich Enterprise Centre (Innovation and Sustainability)
• Five Pancras Square, London (Plasterboard)
• Resort World, Birmingham (Commercial)
• Michael Sobell Sports Centre and School, Aberdare (Education, Hospitality & Healthcare)
• Great Minster House, London (Residential)
• Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (Plaster)

"The winning projects were selected due to their commitment to addressing common issues in the construction sector such as reducing carbon, overcoming poor acoustic performance and extending maintenance cycles," commented Alastair Bell, Managing Director of British Gypsum.

The winners will to join more than 33 different countries as UK representatives in the Saint-Gobain Gypsum International Trophy Awards in Prague later in 2016.

UK: About 90,000t/yr of testliner capacity will soon be lost from the UK market. DS Smith will close its Wansbrough mill in Somerset, which also produces other products such as gypsum wallboard liner, on 23 December 2015.

DS Smith had announced a possible closure at the end of August 2015. At that time, the company had said the decision had been made after an assessment of the facility's long-term prospects.

The Wansbrough mill operates two paper machines. According to the plant manager, they manufacture roughly 90,000t/yr of testliner III, 30,000t/yr of coreboard, 18,000t/yr of recycled paper for bags, 12,000t/yr of recycled envelope paper and 10,000t/yr of other products such as wallboard liner.

DS Smith operates another paper mill in the UK, the Kemsley mill in Kent, where the company produces corrugated case material on three machines with a total capacity of around 800,000t/yr.

UK: Wastecycle's recycling facility in Colwick, Nottinghamshire is now one of the largest in the UK after an expansion of the site. By acquiring seven acres of property, which the company previously leased, and buying an additional four acres, Wastecycle has extended its site to nearly 20 acres.

"It's an exciting time for us because this expansion provides us with the platform we need to reach the next stage of growth as a company," said Financial Director Nathan Cole. "Over the long term, we plan to use the additional land to expand our extensive recycling and resource management activities. This will help us broaden the services we offer our customers while improving the quality and sustainability of the recycled products we manufacture."

The company has also completed an expansion of its main office to accommodate its growing workforce. After a 20% growth in staff 2015, it now employs almost 300 people across its Colwick site and its two sites in Leicestershire. "Ensuring our teams are comfortable in their working environments is very important to us because, not only does it increase productivity, but it also creates positive morale," said Cole. "Larger premises also provide the opportunity to open up new jobs, while improving the quality of service we can provide to customers."

Wastecycle separates 500,000t/yr of waste, including 18,000t/yr of recycling from 126,131 homes in the Nottingham City Council area. Some of the waste is turned into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for use at cement plants. It also sorts through the rubbish of thousands of businesses across Nottinghamshire, runs a skip hire service and operates a wallboard recycling facility, which it developed with British Gypsum.

In 2014, Wastecycle's turnover increased to Euro42.8m from Euro35.9m in 2013. In 2015, it won four awards, including a bronze environmental best practice accolade at the Green Apple Awards in November 2015. It was recognised for the success of its wallboard recycling scheme, which has prevented more than 30,000t/yr of wallboard from reaching landfill.

UK: As part of the 350th Anniversary Celebrations of French building materials group Saint-Gobain, time capsules filled by more than 30 Saint-Gobain brands have been buried at the company's UK Headquarters in Binley, West Midlands followed by the unveiling of a specially-commissioned landmark sculpture designed by architectural students at the University of Nottingham.

The time capsules have been collected from brands across the country, including British Gypsum, Jewson and Celotex, and have been filled with products and innovations from each brand, as well as mementos from current employees.

Richard Halderthay, director of communications at Saint-Gobain UK and Ireland, said, "We hope that when our future colleagues, the 18th generation of Saint-Gobain employees, unearth these capsules in 100 years, they will see how our employees were innovators of the time. This is a great opportunity to celebrate our history as well as share our vision for the future."

UK: Waste management firm Wastecycle has been given an award for its wallboard recycling scheme. The company won a Green Apple Environment Award, which recognises environmental best practice in companies, for its scheme offering a national collection and recycling service. Through its partnership with wallboard manufacturer British Gypsum, Wastecycle prevents 30,000t/yr of wallboard material from reaching landfill.

Representatives of Wastecycle will go to the Houses of Parliament on 16 November 2015 to find out if their award is bronze, silver or gold. Paul Clements, Commercial Director of Wastecycle, said, "We're delighted to have been awarded a Green Apple Environment Award. There were more than 500 entries, so to be a winner is a real honour."

UK: The Carbon Trust has awarded Knauf UK the Carbon Trust Standard for Carbon in recognition of its success in reducing its carbon emissions. The Carbon Trust is the world's leading independent certification organisation and the award is a step forward for the gypsum industry as a whole.

"We're particularly proud to have achieved the Carbon Trust Standard because it reflects the company's commitment to sustainability throughout its operations," said Lorna Stork, Knauf UK's sustainability manager. "We manufacture products that are energy-intensive to produce, so this achievement not only owes a lot to improvements at factory level, but also shows that we believe in managing carbon and energy use in other areas."

Knauf has re-formulated the composition of its wallboard to reduce water content and the energy consumption required to dry them. The result is that, across the company, the average board weight has fallen by 2% over the past five years, leading to a cut in energy consumption of over 5%. Knauf has also achieved considerable energy savings in the drying process. 10GWh of gas were saved at the company's Kent facility and a further 2.8GWh at its Hull plant. These savings have been reinforced with other initiatives, including the implementation of ISO 50001, energy targets for board production, monitoring programmes and sourcing lower moisture raw materials.

Knauf has also examined other elements of its business in terms of carbon use, including handling and distribution. There have been marked improvements in Knauf's own energy consumption by forklifts and other site vehicles due to monitoring of fuel usage and training staff on how to operate the plant and equipment optimally.

"Knauf's attitude towards carbon reduction is commendable and the company's efforts have led to a significant reduction of over 5%. The company is an example of what can be achieved going beyond business-as-usual and innovating to improve your environmental impact," said Darran Messem, managing director of certification at the Carbon Trust. "Achieving the Carbon Trust Standard is one thing, but keeping it is a constant task, not one that is achieved by a single initiative. As a company, we are committed to that aim and to everything that it implies."

UK: According to Construction Enquirer, Kent's Drywall Technologies, which traded as Drytech, has entered administration, resulting in 20 job losses. A further 20 staff, other than those made redundant, have been offered work at an associated company, understood to be Drytech Facades. Drytech was founded in 2003 by former Knauf employees Stephen Deane and Tommy McDermott.

"Increased industry competition and its consequential impact on profitability led the directors of the company to decide to exit the sector in 2014 by significantly reducing the level of contracts being tendered for and completing those already in progress," said joint administrator Colin Hardman of Smith & Williamson. "Unfortunately, due to the unprofitable nature of some of those contracts, the company became insolvent and so management took the decision to place the company into administration. We are now looking for a buyer for the company's assets and in the meantime are progressing with realisation the company's principal assets; its debtor book and work in progress so as to maximise realisations for the benefit of creditors."