Knauf Insulation’s ground-breaking recycling plant at Visé in Belgium is celebrating its first anniversary by playing a key role in pioneering partnerships to drive the future of the circular economy in Europe while supporting the company’s aim to send zero waste to landfill.

Since opening in March 2022, the €15 million facility and recycling service, known as RESULATION to celebrate its innovative approach to recycling insulation, has been exploring ways to collect glass mineral wool scrap from de-construction and construction sites to transform it into the glass cullet needed to create new product.

The move follows partnerships with Belgian companies within the Association of Glass Manufacturers (inDUfed), the Association of Waste Collectors (DEnuo) in Wallonia as well as a.o. EMbuild, the Association of Construction Companies, Tracimat, the Flemish demolition management organisation and Buildwise the private construction research institute previously known as BBRI in Flanders. These partnerships have unlocked subsidies enabling deconstruction companies to explore new ways to drive the circular economy such as improving the effectiveness of sorting deconstruction material, the massification of transporting this material to Visé, automating processes and analysing the most effective way to dismantle buildings for recycling.

In a separate move, Knauf is also participating in a tender process organised by Valobat, the French building industry eco-organisation, which helps companies achieve their circular economy obligations. Under the tender process, the Visé facility aims to be a recycling centre for glass mineral wool under the Extended Producer Responsibility programme in France.

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