ADVERTORIAL
Knauf Insulation’ s path to a low-carbon built environment
Knauf Insulation is reducing emissions across its value chain, enhancing product performance and promoting better building standards through the use of recycled materials, responsible sourcing, and a clear net-zero strategy.
What are you doing to push the sustainability agenda?
Knauf Insulation’ s products provide thermal, fire safety, and acoustic performance while minimising carbon emissions. Our aim is twofold: to deliver highperformance, low-carbon solutions for sustainable built environments. There is no path to net zero without enhancing energy efficiency in poorly insulated homes; we need buildings that perform effectively in the real world.
Externally, we collaborate with the UK government to reinforce regulations on building energy efficiency and performance metrics. We foster cultural change by sharing sustainability expertise, assisting stakeholders in making informed product decisions, and emphasising quality installation.
How are you changing your processes to improve sustainability?
Sustainability influences our entire value chain, from resource conservation to reducing the impact of manufacturing, packaging, and distribution. We incorporate up to 80 % recycled glass cullet in our glass mineral wool, sourced from a waste processing facility adjacent to our St Helens( UK) plant. Using locally recycled content reduces the energy needed to melt glass and prevents approximately 375 000 miles of road transport annually. This process utilises about 60 000 tonnes of locally collected glass bottles and jars each year, diverting them from landfill.
How are your products sustainable?
Manufactured in the UK, our glass mineral wool products boast some of the lowest embodied carbon on the market, thanks to ongoing improvements. Most of our range uses our unique ECOSE binder, which contains no added formaldehyde or phenol and is less energy-intensive than typical binders. We hold BES 6001 certification with a“ very good” rating for responsible sourcing. We are the first European manufacturer to attain a Declare“ Red List Free” label for rock and glass mineral wool. The Declare label provides transparency about where products are made, their expected lifespan, end-of-life options, ingredients, VOC levels, and whether any chemicals on the“ Red List” are present.
What have you done to make your organisation more sustainable?
Our 2020“ For a Better World” strategy centres on four pillars: Put People First, Achieve Zero Carbon, Deliver a Circular Economy, and Create Better Buildings. Under Achieve Zero Carbon, we aim to reduce product embodied carbon by 15 % by 2025( from a 2021 baseline). These goals align with Knauf Group’ s ambition: net zero by 2045, with a 50 % reduction in scope 1 and 2 and 30 % in scope 3 by 2032.
What are some of the challenges to achieving these goals?
We need to cut absolute emissions while increasing capacity to satisfy demand. Infrastructure also lags behind: grid electrification and renewable options, such as hydrogen, rely on national deployment.
Internally, we invest in people, skills, tools, and technology to maintain sustainability as a top priority and to accelerate progress.
46 summer 2025-26 | www. tobuild. co. za