Circular economy

We are committed to supporting the transition towards a circular economy. Our products and production processes are aligned with circularity principles: designing out waste and pollution; keeping materials at their highest value; and restoring natural systems1. This is vital, as the construction industry consumes roughly half of virgin resources globally2, and the built environment is responsible for 30-40% of the global waste generation3.

We aim to use data to drive greater circularity, which is why we asked Circle Economy to develop a dashboard that supports our drive towards greater circularity and especially reducing the amount of virgin materials wherever possible. The dashboard’s headline indicator takes into account the durability of our products and shows the tonnes of non-virgin materials per year of use of our products. In addition, six performance indicators have been included such as ‘designed for recycling’ and ‘designed for reuse’. The dashboard illustrates our circularity strategy in a visual way, fosters transparency, and allows us to add more indicators to show our progress in the coming years.

The dashboard is aligned with the CSRD, EU Taxonomy and CTI Framework, and Circle Economy has provided a full methodology document with the details of each indicators and the calculation methods.

Rockcycle®

Rockcycle® is ROCKWOOL’s recycling program. It’s now available in 21 countries with an aim to reach 30 by 2030.

We take back stone wool material from construction, renovation and demolition sites and recycle it in our production process to make new stone wool products. Rockcycle® facilitates a truly circular and closed loop recycling system. It also caters to the increased demand by key stakeholders for sustainable ways to reduce construction and demolition waste.

By taking a circular approach – where waste is designed out and resources are used efficiently – we can create an economy that is both sustainable and profitable.

Rockcycle - video thumbnail
In 2023, we collected and recycled
0

of stone wool through our recycling services

We offer recycling services in
0

different countries

In a circular economy, products and materials should circulate for as long as possible, at their highest value and without losing their quality or performance. 

This is stone wool. It can be recycled endlessly and still maintain all the mechanical and performance properties that make it such a versatile product with so many applications. In addition to its recyclability, our stone wool products contain no flame retardants and are highly durable, retaining their performance properties for at least 65 years – but probably more2. An additional benefit of recycling stone wool is that we are able to avoid re-melting some of the recycled wool, which means we can reduce carbon emissions by close to 10 percent3.

Project, reference, Soons Interieurbouw, ROCKCYCLE

Moving towards zero waste to landfill

In three-quarters of our manufacturing facilities, we have eliminated all stone wool waste going to landfill. We have done this by re-directing the stone wool production waste back into our production in a closed-loop system.

Globally, we have committed to reducing production waste going to landfill by 85 percent by 2030. We have already reached a reduction of more than 50 percent compared to the 2015 baseline.

Our reduction goal requires us to continuously push the boundaries of what is possible in the transition to a waste-free society. One example is the conversion to electric melting at our factory in Moss, Norway, which has allowed us to significantly increase our recycling capacity.

SR20, reducing landfill waste, SDG-12

Reducing and recycling plastic packaging

We use plastic packaging to compress, transport and protect our stone wool products before installation. We are committed to reducing our use of plastic packaging as much as possible, for example by constantly reducing its thickness. We are also committed to increasing the recycled content and recyclability of our packaging.

new package rocklit

Cigacice, Poland

Over the years, we have made several improvements and investments in optimising the water usage across our factories. For example, at our factory in Cigacice, Poland, we invested in harvesting rainwater, which resulted in significantly reducing fresh water consumption.

factory in Cigacice, ROCKWOOL factory, helicopter view

Vamdrup, Denmark
Since 2000, the Danish factory in Vamdrup has collected rainwater in large basins with storage capacity of 2000 m3, supplying 40 percent of the factory’s production process water consumption.

Drone images of the factory in Vamdrup DK

Saint-Éloy-les-Mines, France
At our French factory in Saint-Éloy-les-Mines, we implemented a system for closer control and quick reaction against water leakages, together with the installation of more water efficient equipment.

factory, outside, chimney, SELM

Learn more about ROCKWOOL's commitments