2022 Sustainability Report: Rockwool products sold in 2022 will save more than 100 times the energy consumed and CO2 emitted during their manufacture

Inventory of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the group, the report specifies in particular the progress towards carbon neutrality, energy sobriety and resource management. As such, ROCKWOOL is ahead of 7 of its intermediate Sustainable Development objectives.

For Jens Birgersson, CEO of ROCKWOOL: “The climate crisis will not be solved by promises or long-term goals. The good news is that we have the solutions to act today. Building energy efficiency provides social, economic and environmental responses: we can use, emit and import less while reducing energy poverty. »

In 2022, ROCKWOOL is ahead of its targets. The group exceeded 7 of its interim sustainability goals out of the 11 SDGs, several of which are on track to be fully achieved by 2030.

ROCKWOOL ahead of 7 of its interim sustainability goals

1) Reduction of CO2 and GHG emissions: in 7 years, ROCKWOOL has reduced carbon emissions by 17% per ton of stone wool produced, ahead of its intermediate objective by 7 points.

2) Reduction of GHG emissions: since 2019, ROCKWOOL has also succeeded in reducing absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 4% and its scope 3 emissions by 1%. A reduction made possible thanks to electric fusion furnace technology which replaces the combustion of fossil fuels. This technology will be available in the group's two factories in France. The plant project in Soissons, in Hauts-de-France, will benefit from this cutting-edge technology, with a CO2 reduction target of 70% compared to coal-fired fusion technology.

3) The energy efficiency of housing: thanks to its stone wool insulation solutions, the ROCKWOOL Group contributes each year to increasing the energy efficiency of housing and thus reducing the carbon footprint of the world's housing stock. By 2022, ROCKWOOL products sold will save more than 100 times the energy consumed and the CO2 emitted during their manufacture. Composed of basalt, infinitely recyclable with an average lifespan of more than 65 years without losing their performance, ROCKWOOL products are circular by nature.

As such, Cabinet Trucost, a subsidiary of Standard & Poor's Global, has classified all ROCKWOOL products as positive for the SDGs.

In 2022, the ROCKWOOL Group was ranked the 16th most sustainable company in the world and the 1st place in the world among companies manufacturing building products, according to the prestigious Corporate Knights Global index of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world. .

In 2023 and for the 7th consecutive year, the EcoVadis France assessor awards a gold medal to ROCKWOOL France's social and environmental responsibility policy, going from a score of 72 to 74/100 and even 80/100 for the part devoted to the environment and the company's social policy.

4) ROCKWOOL pioneer in the Recycling of materials: ROCKWOOL's waste recovery offer, Rockcycle, is a service which for 10 years in France has facilitated the recovery of ROCKWOOL stone wool products from construction or demolition sites and guarantees that the material is reused or recycled. Thus, Rockcycle makes it possible to meet the challenge of reducing construction waste, which represents more than a third of all solid waste in the world. Rockcycle now operates in 19 countries, compared to the intermediate goal of 15 countries, with a 2030 goal of operating in 30 countries. In France Rockcycle® Reno was awarded the Silver Medal at the International Congress of Construction Economists (Untec) 2022. Thanks to the implementation of this service and the use of waste such as slag from steel industry, ROCKWOOL products contain an average of 25% non-virgin material, without this affecting their performance.

5) Savings on water resources: in 2022, On the various sites, the average water consumption in production was reduced by 14%, exceeding by 4 points the intermediate objective set at 10% thanks to the optimization processes and rainwater harvesting. In France, the Saint-Eloy-les-Mines site in Puy-de-Dôme is now operating with savings of 27% between 2003 and 2021. In addition, the industrial site has been part of the the PURE plan, a plan for the rational use of water in the Puy-de-Dôme. The latter specifies the water reduction measures already implemented and the additional commitments that can be implemented, particularly during drought alert periods. Finally, savings on water resources will also be improved at the future production site in Soissons, where water consumption estimates will be reduced to 1m0,72/tonne of stone wool manufactured, in addition to the efforts made to recover rainwater thanks to basins which will cover at least 3% of the site's needs.

6) Optimized waste management: the disposal of waste to landfill on production sites has been reduced by 51% in 2022, i.e. 11 points ahead of the intermediate objective and on track to reach 85% in 2030 .

7) Energy renovation of offices: energy efficiency work has been carried out on 39% of the group's offices, while the intermediate objective was 35%, to reach 75% in 2030.

The entire 2022 Sustainable Development report is available here.