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Kingspan Commits to Recycling 1 Billion Plastic Bottles

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Turning Ocean Plastic Into Building Material

Kingspan has committed to using 500 million recycled plastic bottles a year in insulation products by 2023. And by 2025, our company will be doubling this to one billion plastic bottles.

This is in addition to our Net Zero Energy goal of reaching complete carbon neutral status by the year 2020, which is a project Kingspan has been working on since 2011.
Kingspan is already manufacturing insulation with recycled plastic but will now be adding recovered ocean plastic to the manufacturing chain. The plan is to achieve this target with new our partner, the EcoAlf Foundation. Under a three-year partnership, Kingspan will proactively help remove up to 150 tons of waste from the Mediterranean each year though the EcoAlf Foundation’s network of fishermen. Kingspan will reuse as much of the recovered ocean plastic as possible in production.
 
“We take our sustainability commitments very seriously at Kingspan. Today’s announcement, part of the Planet Passionate commitment in Kingspan’s sustainability plan, forms part of a longer-term strategy we are developing around supporting the circular economy and increasing our use of recycled materials,” said Gene Murtagh, CEO of Kingspan Group. “With the construction industry contributing 30% of all the global waste that goes into landfills, it is vital that we at Kingspan find responsible ways to reduce waste at all points in the supply chain.”
 
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Currently, only nine percent of the plastic ever made in the world has been recycled, and according to the United Nations Environment Program, more than eight million tons of plastic ends up in the ocean each year. The dramatic use of plastic is only beginning to hit the public consciousness of United States citizens, where Americans go through 100 billion plastic shopping bags every year and discard 2.5 million plastic bottles each hour.
 
Recently, a pregnant sperm whale washed up on the shore outside Porto Cervo. After further investigation, scientists found nearly 50 pounds of plastic waste in her belly – blocking nutrients from food from entering her bloodstream. This plastic came from fishing nets, plastic bags, plastic pipes and even plastic plates – materials that were carelessly thrown into the ocean.
 
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Looking Towards the Future

The days of throwing away plastic are coming to an end, and Kingspan plans to be part of the solution, as using recycled plastic bottles will help prevent them from ending up in a landfill or in an ocean.

This effort complements other sustainability initiatives that Kingspan constantly prioritizes, including its commitment to operate as a Net Zero Energy company by 2020. 
 
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Meet the author

Brent Trenga, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, is Building Technology Director for Kingspan Insulated Panels North America. His background as an architect, construction manager, developer and project owner give him a unique perspective on all facets of the construction industry. Trenga leads Kingspan North America’s material health and transparency program and their NZE 2020 program, while collaborating with the company’s global healthy building team. Trenga can be contacted at brent.trenga@kingspan.com.

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