GCC and Knauf sign agreement for the management of expanded polystyrene insulation demolition waste

This partnership begins with the rehabilitation of more than 550 individual pavilions, carried out for the client ICF La Sablière, in the district of the Cheminote city located in the municipalities of Chelles and Brou-sur-Chantereine (77).

This large-scale pilot project innovates in many ways and constitutes a French first. GCC, in charge of the work, recovers the EPS waste from the removal of the insulation from the outside, separates it from the impurities (plasters, fixings, etc.) before compacting them and then palletizing them on the site itself. Then, KNAUF IDF West will store these waste pallets, carry out the complex regulatory procedures for their cross-border transfer before having them transported to the PolyStyreneLoop demonstration plant, located in Terneuzen in the Netherlands.

The European Life PolystyreneLoop project is led by the cooperative of the same name which brings together more than 70 members including the French Association for Insulation in Expanded Polystyrene in the Building (AFIPEB) in which KNAUF is a major member. This project aims to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of a unique treatment process, based on CreaSolv® technology, allowing the separation of components including the flame retardant HBCD. This will then be destroyed, in compliance with regulations, while recovering the bromine. The recovered polystyrene can thus be recycled.

Precursors, GCC and KNAUF, through this partnership, will make a first French delivery, of several tons, to the PolyStyreneLoop.

For Nicolas MINARD, Head of the GCC Réhabitat Group: “We are proud to take up the challenge of this atypical site. It illustrates for the first time our "100% recovery objective" label, which allows us to demonstrate our know-how in the area of ​​the circular economy through the reuse, reuse and recycling of materials recovered directly on site. "

For Nicolas PERRIN, President of KNAUF IDF Ouest: “With this partnership and this major project, we are taking a big step forward in recycling EPS waste from demolition. If to date in France, few isolated buildings have been dismantled, in the coming decades, recycling solutions will be mastered thanks to the PolyStyreneLoop pilot program, but also to the mobilization and proven organization of upstream players, such as GCC. KNAUF is a major but also a local player in EPS insulation. In this partnership, we bring our local logistics resources, our experience in recycling EPS, acquired on our KNAUF Circular® sites in the recovery of scraps from new construction sites, and above all our commitment and our conviction to implement a circular economy of Construction EPS. "