Germany: a new generation insulation plant

The renovation of this glass wool plant in southwest Germany represents a €38 million investment. The first major change: the reconstruction of the furnace after 10 years of activity. It is now heated by a mixture of natural gas and - this is new - oxygen (ambient air was previously used). A technology that will reduce energy consumption by 10 to 20%. 

The other challenge was to rebuild the two manufacturing lines at the same time, now making it possible to produce even more efficient solutions at a lower cost. Thanks to new installations, the fiberizing process can now be really optimized. The objective of this improvement? Use less material when manufacturing the product while maintaining the same or even better insulation capabilities. 

The new equipment installed also responds to customer needs by offering innovative solutions. For example, until now in Europe, there were mainly stone wool or expanded polystyrene products for exterior insulation systems. The Speyer plant is now the first in Europe to offer coated glass wool panels for ETICS.

After two months of complete shutdown of the furnace, the first line restarted at the beginning of June but total production resumption is expected in August. The site mainly serves the German, Austrian and French markets.

Like in the past, the plant will use up to 80 % of recycling glass instead of new raw materials. Together with the new heating concept of the furnace, this will contribute to improve even more the global footprint of the products