Kingspan Insulated Panels North America announces new sustainability initiatives as part of the company’s global Planet Passionate program, an ambitious, decade-long commitment to cutting carbon emissions between 2020 and 2030. Through upcycling, renewable energy and a PV solar roof, a large investment in Kingspan’s plant in Modesto, California, puts Kingspan a step closer to meeting its global target with a focus on three areas:

• Energy: powering 60% of all Kingspan operations directly from renewable energy with a minimum of 20% of this energy generated on manufacturing sites
• Carbon: achieving net zero carbon manufacturing and a 50% reduction in product CO₂ intensity from primary supply partners

• Circularity: upcycling of 1 billion PET bottles per annum into insulation products plus zero company waste to landfill across all sites

The Modesto plant is using upcycled PET plastic water bottles as a key raw material input for manufacturing Kingspan’s QuadCore® insulation, as part of the global effort to meet Planet Passionate goals of upcycling a billion water bottles a year worldwide. This is a critical step toward cleaning up the world’s beaches and oceans, while providing between 9% and 12% recycled content to Kingspan’s insulation foam, depending on panel thickness.

According to the United Nations, the world produces 300 million tons of plastic waste each year, which is equivalent to the weight of the entire human population. Even more alarming is that 8% ends up in the world’s oceans. The UN estimates that by 2050, if nothing changes, the oceans could contain more plastic than fish.

Kingspan is also reducing its own carbon footprint by installing a PV solar panel roof at its Modesto plant to generate roughly 1.4 MW of on-site electricity. When finalized this summer, the Modesto plant will be on the road to meeting Kingspan’s global Planet Passionate goal of 60% direct renewable energy, while contributing to 20% on-site renewable generation. As of 2018, electricity production accounted for more than 26% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The reliance on clean energy cuts both carbon emissions and pollution.

“We need to address every aspect of sustainability when it comes to the built environment. With each plant, we are finding new ways to meet and even exceed our goals in order to fulfill our commitment to tackling climate change,” said Brent Trenga, Kingspan’s Director of Sustainability. “It is critical to our planet that we assess carbon emissions in every step of the manufacturing process. We must examine every aspect from the energy sources to the materials used.”

In addition to being more energy efficient, the plant can manufacture insulated panels at almost double the speed of its predecessor and has a state-of-the-art autonomous online conditional monitoring system, making it Kingspan’s most advanced insulated panel manufacturing plant globally.

The 138,500 sq. ft. plant employs a staff of 85 and is the City of Modesto’s third largest employer. Total investment for the plant is around $23 million and it is one of Kingspan’s five plants in North America.

Kingspan has been operating in Modesto, California, since 2008.

To learn more about Kingspan, visit www.kingspanpanels.us.