The Knauf Group engages its customers in the Circular Economy of PES with Knauf Circular®

Knauf Circular®: the answer to the regulatory, economic and environmental challenges of recycling

The future of plastics, waste management and the circular economy are the key subjects of the new regulations that are developing in France and in Europe.
The bases for these new regulations were initiated by the Circular Economy Roadmap (FREC). In this context, the AFIPEB (Association Française de l'Isolation en Polystyrène dans le Bâtiment) was already making a voluntary commitment to annually recover 2500 tonnes of EPS by 2025. Member of Elipso (association of companies in the plastic packaging strongly involved in a dynamic circular economy), Knauf Industries has also committed to reincorporate 4000 tons per year of recycled expanded polystyrene in its industrial packaging and handling packaging, by 2023.

Promulgated on February 10, 2020, the Anti-Waste Law for a Circular Economy, known as AGEC, comes into force through the publication of the various decrees.

For the packaging sector, AGEC, and in particular its future 3R decree, will require the recycling, reuse or reuse of packaging and the reduction of the use of virgin plastics. Its goal is to move towards 100% recycled plastics by 2025.

For the building sector, from July 1, 2021, it will require all companies to include in their quotes information relating to the management of construction work waste: the methods, their costs, the facilities in which they will be deposited. according to their typology.

From January 1, 2022, an Extended Producer Responsibility as well as an eco-contribution (creation of an eco-body responsible for waste management to accelerate their recovery) will be put in place. The eco-contribution will be financed by a system of eco-taxes, modulated according to the environmental performance of the product.

And, finally, the Energy Transition Law for Green Growth (LTECV) aims for the proportion of non-hazardous waste recycling to reach 65% by 2025.

Knauf Circular®, by developing a service for collecting and recycling EPS waste for reintroduction into new products, fully meets these requirements.

Knauf Circular®: an innovative service for the fight against waste, landfill or landfill

Through this real economic and environmental opportunity, the Knauf Group concretely demonstrates its commitment to the environment and its desire to support its customers in this process. Knauf Circular® is intended for all EPS users: materials dealers, construction companies, DIY and food supermarkets, seafaring professionals, manufacturers and also waste reception centers, allowing the collection of post-consumer PES from households.

Knauf Circular® collects on-site PES clean waste: offcuts from insulation sites (excluding deconstruction), tide boxes, industrial and commercial packaging, protective wedges, etc., marketed by Knauf or not, for introduction into a channel responsible, reliable collection and recycling, and guaranteeing their recovery into new polystyrene products for construction, packaging or everyday life.

To ensure optimal, virtuous and sustained recovery of EPS waste, a company wishing to benefit from Knauf Circular® simply needs to sign the agreement provided for this purpose. This paid Knauf Circular® service results in the provision of bags with a capacity of 1 m³ (or, if applicable, a more substantial means of recovery) and their recovery within 10 days on sites (construction sites, companies , regrouping points ...) for a minimum of EPS bags established according to the quantity of EPS waste generated by the activity and the profile of the company (industrialists, traders, wholesalers, waste reception centers, etc.). Knauf Circular® is designed to be very practical for everyday use, with easy-to-carry, closed and transparent bags that will be removed on site by simply calling the dedicated toll-free number.

During this collection, a waste tracking slip will be issued, for proof of traceability, justifying the recycling of the waste.

Knauf Circular®: a unique service open to all sectors of activity at national level which guarantees the recycling of EPS

For the pilot phase of the south-eastern quarter of France, Knauf Circular® has already resulted in the signing of around fifty agreements in a few months and the provision of 10000 bags in the 4 pilot factories of the project.

Knauf Circular® has established itself to date as the only PES collection and recycling service in France with such a network of the territory and such proximity to its customers.

Industrial investments of more than 2 million euros have thus been made to provide each of the 18 sites with equipment for processing the collected EPS, offering an annual recycling capacity of several thousand tonnes of EPS. Knauf Circular® is also reflected in the creation of a position at the company's headquarters in Alsace, to ensure the common administration of the various Knauf entities of this activity.

Knauf Circular® proves that EPS is recyclable and recycled. It perpetuates the use of EPS in its various applications by providing it with a concrete recycling solution, fully in line with the new regulations. This strong action is part of the long term within the framework of the societal responsibility approach of the Knauf Group.

“We are developing PES collection and recycling channels to reduce the use of virgin material. Our factories are equipped with collection and recycling systems for food and industrial packaging waste and offcuts from building sites. Thanks to the geographical proximity to customers, more and more post-consumer waste and production scraps find a second life and enter into the composition of new Knauf products, wedges, insulation panels… Those which prove to be unsuitable to a reintroduction into our production will be reprocessed by partner recyclers in France or in Europe to become everyday consumer goods or insulation products for the building. "
Kurt Münder, CEO Knauf Industries

“The Knauf Group is taking up and will take up several challenges so that the PES sector can concretely enter the circular economy. Today, with Knauf Circular®, users are assured of the total recovery of their EPS waste. Other research and development programs will enrich this first initiative in the years to come. Research is underway on ecodesign to promote the recycling of end-of-life materials. Knauf is also working to increase the share of recycled EPS in its new products, which must meet the technical and regulatory requirements of their field of application - building and packaging. We have great prospects for registering our Group in the circular economy! "
Christine Muscat, CEO Knauf France

Knauf Circular®: a simple and complete service that supports the customer and enhances his action

All Knauf Circular® news can be followed on the dedicated site, www.knaufcircular.fr which provides information on the terms of takeovers according to the type of agreement signed (traders and installation companies, seafaring professionals, industrialists and large surfaces, waste reception centers) and on the different types of EPS collected.

Knauf notably offers a video presentation with customer testimonials from different activities (building, packaging, industry).

The Knauf Group also supports professionals who have signed Knauf Circular® conventions so that they can carry the colors of their commitment high through dedicated communication media; useful and pragmatic tools, which take up the arguments justifying this concrete approach in favor of the circular economy of the PES.