Page 29 - HW April 2020

pre-cladding & insulation
Environmental initiatives signal deeper eco awareness
Green pathways are quickly becoming broader for insulation and cladding manufacturers alike.
Gordon White from Winstone Wallboards for one suggests that, in the next decade, there will be increasing focus on waste and a lot more demand on the supply chain to be proactive and accountable for what’s being produced.
“And if we don’t take our responsibilities very seriously,” he warns, “we may see more Government regulations around this.
“More speci cally, we’re starting to see a lot more meaningful conversations about what is happening in the waste space where our approach is mostly one of stewardship.
“There’s always been a high level of awareness in the speci er side of things but we’re now starting to see that owing through more into the builders’ space.”
As a result, he says,“Suppliers need to be a lot more cognisant of where the waste streams are going because our customers are increasingly conscious of the types of materials they are using and the amount of packaging created.”
To this end, when the new GIB plant in Tauranga opens, some three years hence, it will be able to recycle waste material from customer sites which can then be fed back into the manufacturing process.
Over at Expol the company has introduced a thoughtful recycling initiative collecting polystyrene from boxes installed in retailers which it then recycles to produce a range of products, some of which are formed from 100% recycled polystyrene.
Expol’s Paul Grondin explains;“We’ve put in place several
recycling initiatives, which include recycling facilities in our seven manufacturing units nationwide. We are especially proud of the Expol Recycling Cube Partnership with hardware groups nationwide that
is designed to give consumers an in-store drop-off point for their polystyrene waste.
“We’ve been trialling this for about six months, predominantly at ITM and Mitre 10 stores in Auckland, but we’re now going a lot more mainstream with it. It’s good for us, it’s good for the partnership with the stores, and it’s ultimately good for the consumer.”
Expol has trialled its Cube programme in stores that it delivers
to on a weekly basis and the collection and drop-off process is co- ordinated through an app so as not to increase the company’s carbon footprint.
Expol already uses recycled content in many of its products, including under oor insulation, which contains up to 25% recycled content, but its product development team is also actively developing products which use more recycled content, such as Expol StyroDrain (photo above left), which is made from 100% recycled content using recycled product from the Cube programme.
“The commitment from Expol is to provide full-circle recycling and product development. However, all parties, he notes, have a part to play in its continued success:“Consumers need to recycle their polystyrene waste in the cubes, and the stores need to promote our recycled products.”
www.gib.co.nz www.expol.co.nz
speci cation.
“I don’t know that sales are going to peak as much as last year,
but demand is certainly there and we are positive it is going to continue.
“ e rest of our extensive polystyrene product range is really driven by the pace of construction and consents for ongoing projects, many of which are locked and loaded. When we are
out the other side of this environment, there will be an increased demand for homes and commercial construction.”
Back at Autex, Marcel Herbke suggests the sector is quite quickly evolving to meet the demands around retro ts and rental housing.
“ e Government initiatives are long overdue to bring rental stock up to the level it should be at. I think property managers
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APRIL 2020 | NZHJ 27