ROCKWOOL Group’s Sustainability Report for 2021, published today, provides third-party verified data showing how the company’s products make a quantifiable impact toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The report also shows the good progress ROCKWOOL is making towards meeting its own sustainability goals.
CEO Jens Birgersson comments, “Considering that buildings account for 28 percent of global emissions and that in the EU alone, around 75 percent of buildings are energy inefficient, our products play a key role in combatting climate change by reducing energy consumption in buildings. The building insulation we sold in 2021 will continue to save the annual energy consumption of more than one million homes, for the lifetime of the insulation”.
Getting it right on renovation requires that the renovations qualify as “deep”, that is, achieving energy savings of at least 60 percent; and that the materials used are healthy, fire resilient and circular.
Commenting on ROCKWOOL’s own deep renovations, Jens Birgersson says, “During 2021, we made good progress on our energy efficiency in own offices goal, completing the renovation of an additional five buildings. One of these was our main office in Gladbeck, Germany, where we succeeded in reducing energy consumption by 83 percent”, says Birgersson. “What we are proving is that it is possible to renovate existing buildings up to the energy efficiency standards for new buildings”.
Also in 2021, ROCKWOOL took significant steps toward reaching its science-based decarbonisation target to reduce its overall absolute greenhouse gas emissions by one-third by 2034. It is worth noting that ROCKWOOL’s absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions increased by only one percent notwithstanding the much more substantial 19 percent increase in sales.
CEO Birgersson says, “In 2021, we converted three production lines to low-carbon intensive melting technologies and fuel sources as well as announced plans to build and convert additional low-carbon capacity. The emission-reducing effects of these and other investments will kick in over the coming years, helping us to achieve our decarbonisation ambitions”.
Additional highlights from the report
- ROCKWOOL has reached four of its intermediate sustainability goals before the deadline of 2022.
One of these goals relates to ROCKWOOL’s offering reclaimed materials services, Rockcycle. The service facilitates the take back of ROCKWOOL stone wool products from construction or demolition sites and ensures the material is reused or recycled, helping to address the challenge of construction waste accounting for more than one-third of all solid waste globally. Rockcycle is now operating in 17 countries, compared to the intermediate goal of 15 countries and the 2030 goal of operating in 30 countries.
- ROCKWOOL’s share of net sales associated with Taxonomy-eligible activities was 85 percent in 2021, thereby underlining the company’s positive contribution to sustainable development in Europe.
- Stone wool used in greenhouse production in 2021 enabled growers to use 53 percent less water and grow with 76 percent more yields compared to soil-based solutions.
- Stone wool used as acoustic solutions has improved learning conditions for 1.7 million students in 2021.
