Gypsum industry news

UK: Knauf has maintained its 'Excellent' rating for BES 6001 Responsible Sourcing of its wallboard, laminated plasterboard and gypsum powder products, a rating that it has held since 2019.

The BES 6001 standard is a means of securing certification to demonstrate through independent, third-party certification, that raw materials for products certified against the scheme have been responsibly sourced and that Knauf manufactures these products in a way that minimises the impact on the environment and natural resources. Knauf said that this was a 'significant achievement,' requiring input from all areas of its business, from procurement and manufacturing activities to distribution to customers.

Belgium: Etex has launched its new Road to Sustainability 2030 circularity and decarbonisation strategy. The strategy sets out the company’s 2030 ambitions under five headings. Under health, safety and well-being, Etex aims to reach zero fatalities, burnouts or incidents of harm; under customer engagement, it aims to build a sustainable roadmap for each product platform by 2025; under diversity, equity and inclusion, it will extend its policies, procedures and practices across all teams. Meanwhile, under decarbonisation, Etex will reduce Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 35% compared to 2018, and under circularity it will use over 20% of circular input as raw material, send zero waste to landfill, use 100% recycled packaging and reduce plastic packaging by 20% compared to 2018, offer a product take-back service across 80% of its European markets and dedicate 50% of its innovation resources to sustainability.

Chief executive officer Bernard Delvaux said “Today Etex has sustainability as a guiding compass of business transformation, with concrete objectives that reflect the company’s ambition. We are on an exciting journey towards improving sustainability in the short and long term. We know there is a long road ahead, which is why we invite all our stakeholders to further support us in becoming a leading benchmark in our industry.”

France: SaintGobain says that the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has approved its CO₂ reduction targets. The group plans to achieve net zero CO₂ emissions, both direct and indirect, along its entire value chain by 2050. This will entail a reduction in CO₂ emissions of at least 90% in the three scopes by 2050, with additional sequestration projects planned for residual emissions.

Saint-Gobain's commitments to reduce, in absolute terms, by 2030 from 2017 its direct and indirect CO₂ emissions (scopes 1 and 2) by 33% and its scope 3 emissions, mainly linked to purchasing and transport, by 16% by 2030 was already validated in 2020 by the SBTi. The group says it will continue to accelerate its roadmap, notably through improvements in energy efficiency, product weight reduction, increased recycled content and the use of green energies, in order to align its targets with the most demanding trajectory, which limits the rise in temperatures to 1.5°C.

US: CertainTeed plans to spend US$1.1m towards installing recycling equipment at its Palatka gypsum wallboard plant in Florida. The upgrade will increasing the recycled content of its wallboard products manufactured at the unit by 18,000t/yr while also reducing the site’s CO₂ emissions by 2260t/yr.

The new recycling equipment at the Palatka plant will work by grinding the waste gypsum and waste paper down into fine particles, allowing the plant to capture and internally recycle the materials, which are sorted and then reintroduced to the production process at the plant. The kit will be powered by electricity and will replace older machines currently powered by diesel, lowering the plant’s Scope 1 Emissions from its operations. Additionally, by consuming more recycled gypsum, the plant will become less reliant on feedstock that is shipped to the site from external sources, allowing the unit to also reduce Scope 3 Emissions associated with transporting the feedstock.

Jay Bachmann, the Vice President and General Manager of CertainTeed Interior Products Group, said, “The new technology in Palatka will allow us to increase the recycled content in our products, reduce our carbon CO₂ at the plant, and strengthen our operations at a time of unprecedented consumer demand for gypsum wallboard in the south-eastern US.”

The investment at the Palatka plant follows similar investments that will increase the recycled content of wallboard made at CertainTeed’s wallboard plants in Silver Grove in Kentucky and Nashville in Arkansas. Parent company Saint-Gobain continues to roll out its global ‘Grow and Impact’ strategy, which includes reducing waste and increasing recycling efforts at its manufacturing sites.

Japan: Chiyoda Ute has reported that it has produced 100% climate neutral and 100% recycled wallboard at its Yokkaichi factory in Mie Prefecture. The company says that, to the best of its knowledge, this is a world first. The board was produced on 1 August 2022.

Speaking about the achievement, Frederick Knauf, Chiyoda Ute’s representative managing director said “We do not know whether another manufacturer has achieved this already on an industrial scale, but it shouldn't matter who was first, as the whole industry needs to come to this point. Being second, third or 25th is the same achievement from my point of view."

New Zealand: Fletcher Building Materials recorded consolidated sales of US$5.37bn during its 2022 financial year, up by 4.7% year-on-year from US$5.13bn in the previous year. Its net earnings also rose by 42%, to US$273m from US$193m.

The group's building materials division, which includes Winstone Wallboards, contributed US$1.02bn-worth (17%) of group sales. The business delivered 'strong' volumes, with pricing initiatives effectively offsetting cost inflation. The latter particularly impacted imports of raw materials. The business made capital expenditure investments of US$129m, of which US$98.4m went towards the construction of Winstone Wallboards' upcoming Tauriko gypsum wallboard plant in the Bay of Plenty region. The plant's commissioning in 2023 will increase the company's production capacity by 30% and reduce its CO₂ emissions and waste generation.

Fletcher Building Materials chief executive officer Ross Taylor said "The 2022 financial year has not been without its challenges. Global and national supply chain disruptions have continued into the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic. In New Zealand, surging plasterboard orders following the first quarter lockdown outstripped our ability to supply, despite our manufacturing facilities running at record levels. In recognition of our key role as a local manufacturer in keeping the market supplied, we carried out a range of measures to address the shortage including operating production lines 24/7, running down inventory, importing additional product, and establishing an emergency supply pool." Taylor added "The New Zealand Commerce Commission recently published its interim market study report into residential building supplies. The final report and recommendations will be published in December 2022 and in the meantime we will continue to work collaboratively with both the commission and the government."

UK: Etex subsidiary Siniat says that its upcoming second gypsum wallboard plant at its Bristol site will help it to achieve 30% post-consumer gypsum recycling in its UK wallboard production by 2025. The new plant is scheduled for commissioning in 2023. The producer secured its supply of recycled gypsum from local waste management subsidiary Crucible Gypsum Recycling in 2020. The plant will also supply some of its water consumption from rainwater harvesting on-site. Electric charging stations will eventually support a 100% electric forklift fleet at the site.

Siniat will also invest Euro11,900 towards cycle and pedestrian paths to improve access to the Bristol site.

Belgium: Eurogypsum, the European federation of national associations of producers of gypsum products, has welcomed proposed changes to the European Union’s (EU) Construction Products Regulation (CPR). It said that it welcomed “…the proposal presented by the European Commission (EC) on 30 March 2022 as an ambitious basis to strengthen and modernise the existing rules, as well as to speed up the uptake of sustainable and circular practices in the construction product manufacturing industry.”

In preliminary feedback comments the association said that it supports a European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) driven system as opposed to increased regulatory powers for construction material manufacturing that the new proposals might create. For the assessment of the environmental performance of products the association wants more clarity about any potential new digital approach. It reiterated that it supports the continued use of Life-Cycle Assessments (LCA) and Environmental Product Decelerations (EPD). It also called for product labelling to be provided in an electronic format with easy-to-understand pictograms as the norm. However it suggested that any consumer should be able to request a paper version if required.

The CPR regulations were originally introduced in 2011 and are recognisable to consumers through the use of the CE (Communauté Européenne) markings on certain products. The EC has since decided to revise the regulations to fit with newer policy priorities including the European Green Deal.

UK: Portugal-based Gypfor has agreed to sell its upcoming Newport gypsum wallboard plant to Germany-based Knauf. Gypfor began building the plant at Associated British Ports’ Port of Newport in March 2021. Knauf estimates that it will commission it later in 2022, and commence full operations in 2023. The plant will be equipped with solar and wind power plants, as well as on-site gypsum wallboard recycling facilities. 54 people will be employed in gypsum wallboard production at the site. Knauf says that the addition of the new plant to its existing facilities at Immingham, Lincolnshire, and Sittingbourne, Kent, will enlarge its UK capacity by 20%.

Knauf’s UK managing director Ian Stokes said “This new plant will significantly increase our ability to service customers throughout the UK, and particularly those in South Wales, the Midlands and the South-West of England. It is a very exciting move for Knauf and, following recent investment in increasing the capacity of Knauf Insulation, reflects the confidence of the Knauf Group in the UK construction sector.”

Canada: Saint-Gobain plans to carry out a US$70.9m upgrade and 40% capacity expansion of its 30Mm²/yr Montreal gypsum wallboard plant in Quebec. The project includes the replacement of natural gas with renewable electricity and a 30% reduction in energy consumption through efficiency improvements. As a result, it will turn the facility into North America’s first zero-carbon gypsum wallboard plant. Work will commence in mid-2023, with the commissioning of the upgraded plant following in late 2024.

Saint-Gobain’s vice president environmental, social, governance (ESG) North America and managing director, circular economy solutions Dennis Wilson said "Today we begin a historic new chapter at our Montreal gypsum plant, leading our industry towards a more sustainable future while increasing our production capacity at a time of unprecedented customer demand," said. "We thank our partners in the Quebec Government, the City of Saint-Catherine and Hydro-Québec for their support, and we thank our team for pushing the limits of technology and imagination to bring this bold project to life. The electrification of our Montreal plant is a massive step forward in our broader goal to decarbonise construction materials and a significant step towards our global goal of carbon neutrality by 2050."