Freudenberg Politex

The environmental profile of nonwovens for bituminous membranes is certified

After obtaining the EPD label for Ecozero®, the panels for thermal and acoustic insulation, the Freudenberg Politex Group continues with the commitment for a responsible development, which is based on the two pillars of innovation and environmental protection.
Also Texbond® R and Terbond® R, the nonwovens made of recycled polyester and mainly used as reinforcements for bituminous roofing membranes, have now the certified Environmental Product Declarations, based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) carried out in the Italian production sites of Novedrate and Pisticci by the Department of Engineering and Physics of the University of Basilicata.

It is well known that the construction industry is one of the sectors that can contribute more to the saving of natural resources, through improved energy efficiency of buildings and especially using products that can guarantee a reduced environmental impact all over their life cycle.

The EPD Environmental Declarations, certified by an independent organization, allow manufacturers of membranes to know the environmental impacts generated during the production of Freudenberg Politex nonwovens, divided into the different impact categories, and to draw the life cycle of their finished products accordingly. From the bottle to the roof!

Freudenberg Politex, through its integrated upstream processes with the internal production of fiber from PET bottles recycling, has been contributing to limit the consumption of natural resources for more than two decades. But the game is not over: we were pioneers in recycling at that time and we are pioneers in investigating the environmental issues today.

Together with the EPD Declarations, the Climate Declarations are now also available. Taken from the EPDs, the Climate Declarations easily show the Carbon Footprint of a product, showing the emissions of green-house gases expressed as CO₂ equivalents, based on verified results from LCA in accordance with ISO 14025. Even in this case Freudenberg Politex is the first nonwovens manufacturer to make public the results of the LCA done on its production processes.

Through the LCA, which will also soon be carried out also at other sites of the Group, the aim is to measure the environmental impacts in order to publish the results and also to further improve them, by reducing CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere and preserving natural resources where possible, favouring in this way a truly sustainable business development.

Not just a green label, but a clear, transparent and responsible path, to carry out the responsible behaviour demanded by the Management of the Group and applied with great determination by the team of experts at Freudenberg Politex.

Novedrate, February 2010

The award from Legambiente goes to Pisticci

Innovating and doing business in a responsible and sustainable way. Perceiving the environment not as an endless resource, but as an asset to be protected.
These are the principles at the basis of the corporate policy of Freudenberg Politex, which obtained the prize "Award Innovation Friend of the Environment for Southern Italy" promoted by Legambiente, the largest environmentalist association in Italy, and by Confindustria, the National Confederation of the Italian Industry.

The prize, annually awarded for technologies, processes, services and innovative management systems that produce significant environmental improvements, is attributed to companies engaged in sustainable development and which distinguish themselves for their actions resulting in environmental improvements, in particular in the regions of Southern Italy, where the need of innovation is extremely important. The award was given to the Management of the Pisticci site, lead by Dr. Rocco Marsico, Chief Technical Officer of the Group, in Bari last January 30^th, 2010.
"We build the future... by recovering the past" is the project that contributed to the excellence of the facility in Pisticci (MT).
At the Pisticci site, Freudenberg Politex produces polyester nonwovens obtained from post consumer recycled PET bottles, then sold as reinforcements for bituminous waterproofing membranes. PET bottles coming from waste collection are selected, washed and reduced to flakes. The flakes are then used directly in the spinning process to obtain the fiber needed for the finished product. The nature of the production cycle allows not only the recovery of waste, but also a significant reduction of CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere. Furthermore, the replacement of virgin raw material with recycled polyester, which guarantees the same quality levels, allows the saving of natural resources consequently reducing the environmental impact by eliminating the energy consumption linked to the process of producing virgin polyester. The effective contribution to the environmental protection is demonstrated by the analysis of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of its products, carried out by the Department of Environmental Engineering and Physics of the University of Basilicata, in the two plants of Novedrate and Pisticci and in progress at other sites of the Group. The LCA studies, following international rules, measure the environmental impacts that a product has during its life cycle. With the aim to confirm the objectivity of the data, Freudenberg Politex obtained for the products manufactured in Pisticci the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) label.

The production process of the Group puts emphasis on the importance of the waste collection, showing how it is concretely possible for industries to invest in clean technologies and to preserve natural resources.

The hope of Freudenberg Politex Management, starting from the President & CEO Dr. Riccardo Sollini who is personally committed in supporting sustainable technologies, is that the award contributes to increase the sensibility of the community in increasing the differentiated waste collection, in particular in the regions of Southern Italy.

Novedrate, February 2010

An international Group with headquarters in Italy can not miss the appointment with Made Expo, the international exhibition of construction, architecture and design that will take place in Milan from February 3^rd to 6^th, 2010.

At MADE Expo the entire range of Freudenberg Politex Building Materials will be displayed; it's a range conceived for the protection of buildings, from the foundations to the roof. Building Materials include panels for thermo-acoustic insulation, underfloor soundproofing mats, waterproofing products, fiberglass nets for the reinforcement of walls, floors and road surfaces, underslating and geotextiles.

In particular Freudenberg Politex will show its environmental friendly products, manufactured with recycled polyester obtained from post consumer PET bottles. It is the case of Ecozero^®, the panel for thermo-acoustic insulation which allows a considerable saving of natural resources all over its life cycle, with a consequent low environmental impact and reduced emissions of CO₂ into the atmosphere, as guaranteed by the international EPD label of the Environmental Product Declaration.

Novedrate, January 2010

MADEexpo
Milan Fairgrounds, Rho, Italy, February 3rd-6th 2010
Pav. 4 - Booth G11-H12

"We strongly believe that our long term business orientation is a major strength that benefits our customers and partners". In order to maintain this long term business orientation we must anticipate the needs of our customers and markets. It is through this vision that Freudenberg Politex continues to offer new products to our valued customers. This is not by chance, but part of our Guiding Principles that rule the Group's activities.

In a period when everyone speaks about crisis and the construction industry in particular, Freudenberg Politex trusts more than ever in this market, in the recovery of the market, and the importance of research, communication strategy and in sustainable development.

Translated this means for the Group to invest in innovation of processes and products, to strengthen communications with the market and the customers, to anticipate needs, without forgetting to protect the environment.

Autumn at Freudenberg Politex brings a breath of fresh news!

Three new Building Materials:

GlassPAR Floor: Fiberglass net alkali-resistant for floor reinforcement

Ecozero FV: Ecological thermo-acoustic insulating panel with vapour control layer

PhonoPAR Reflex: Anti-footsteps mat with reflecting film

are going to be launched at the exhibitions SAIE in Bologna and EXPOEDILIZIA in Rome. The international presence of the Group continues with the presence at the exhibition RUSSIA UNITED in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia.
The wish to communicate vis-à-vis with the core members of the construction sector will go ahead in 2010, starting with our presence at the international building exhibition MADE EXPO in Milan.

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Novedrate, October 2009

The environmental performances of Ecozero^® panels for thermal and acoustic insulation of walls and rooftops, manufactured with polyester fibres produced from recycled PET bottles, have been certified with the EPD^® logo of the Environmental Product Declaration.

The Freudenberg Politex Group is well-know not only as a world leader in the marketing of reinforcements for bituminous roofing membranes, but also because it is the major manufacturer of polyester recycled from post consumer PET bottles in Europe. And right the recycled polyester fibres are used to manufacture Ecozero^® panels, which are used in the construction industry for thermal and acoustic insulation of walls and roofs.

Recycled materials and efficient thermal insulation of buildings are key factors that contribute to energy savings and to the reduction of natural resources consumption. For Freudenberg Politex it is not enough to know that its products and processes bring benefits to the environment. The questions are: how can we share this information and document our contribution to environmental protection and natural resources conservation? How can we further improve?

From these questions the project "Green Communication" arose, beginning with the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the product Ecozero^®, which was analysed by the Department of Environmental Engineering and Physics (DIFA) of the University of Basilicata.

The LCA study measures the environmental impacts that a product has during its life cycle. For each production step, data concerning the consumption of resources and the waste generated from the manufacturing process are documented and assessed, following international rules recognised by the ISO system. This method can ensure objective, homogeneous and comparable data.

With the aim to confirm the objectivity and the international value of data resulted from the LCA study, Freudenberg Politex decided to go on with the validation of the Environmental Product Declaration: the EPD^® is a document certified by a independent technical organization according to the international protocol EPD^®. The Declaration represents the results of the LCA study and the steps that led to determine the environmental profile of the product.

The validation of the LCA study and the EPD^® allow Freudenberg Politex to absolutely affirm that its processes and products are sustainable thanks to the limited environmental impact. For example the use of recycled polyester manufactured in its plants instead of virgin raw material for the production of Ecozero^® implies a reduction of CO₂ emissions in the atmosphere of 50%. In addition to this saving, environmental benefits arise also when using Ecozero^® in buildings thanks to the effective performances of thermal insulation.

The decision of the Group in favour of clean technologies is also confirmed by the recent start up of a cogeneration plant in Novedrate where the internal production of electric and thermal energy allows a further reduction of CO₂ emissions in the atmosphere of about 14.000 tons per year.

Download the Environmental Product Declaration^®
More info about Ecozero^®

Novedrate, June 2009

Freudenberg Politex is pleased to present the new advertising campaign recently realized for the product Ecozero.
After years of increasing success, Ecozero is the symbol of the Group's innovative spirit and capacity to anticipate future concepts through constant attention to global market needs. Today more than ever the panels manufactured with polyester made from recycled PET bottles represent a perfect solution to the needs for energy efficient buildings and environmental protection.

Campaign Ecozero 2009

Novedrate, May 2009

The range of Freudenberg Politex Building Materials is in continuous growth, thanks to diligent research and constant attention to the needs of customers:

is the new solution for the reinforcement of road surfaces.

It is a fiberglass net impregnated with bitumen, available in different versions of weight and mesh dimension, and represents the optimal solution to satisfy the different needs of roadway capacity and of thermic variations. To improve the adherence to the different layers of the road surface, GlassPAR Road nets have an acrylic adhesive on one side. The high tensile strength and the high elastic modulus with reduced elongations are the strengths of GlassPAR Road; this new product is very practical and easy to lay.

Further information is available from Customer Service.

April 2009

On February 24th Freudenberg Texbond LP received the "Award of Excellence" from the Georgia Department of Labor, in recognition of "Exceptional Workforce Safety in 2008".

Richard Shaw, CEO and Business Director North America, expresses his satisfaction: "This award confirms our highest commitment in matters of safety. Like all the other companies in the Freudenberg Group, we adopted global standards developed internally, which have helped us to achieve ambitious targets. Apart from the technical safety measures, we have turned to all employees in an effort to make them more aware of safety at the workplace. The "zero accidents" program was launched in 2006 under the motto: Zero Accidents. It's not about numbers, it's about people."

According to Carl Walden, HSE Manager, Freudenberg Texbond LP established a new record low for OSHA Recordable Accidents in 2008 and in fact ended the year with 9 consecutive months of accident free operations.

The Occupational Health and Safety Management System of Freudenberg Texbond is certified BSI-OHSAS 18001.

Freudenberg Texbond LP is based in Macon, Georgia, and belongs to the Freudenberg Politex Group, world market leader in the production of polyester reinforcements for bituminous roofing membranes.

Novedrate, March 2009

A cogeneration plant started up in Novedrate headquarters

Freudenberg Politex is pleased to announce the recent start up of a cogeneration plant in Novedrate for the internal production of thermal and electric energy.

Dr. Riccardo Sollini, President & CEO of the Group, explains that "the cost of utilities has risen constantly over the years and environmental protection has assumed a much more strategic importance for industries. This is why the decision was made to install a cogeneration plant in Italy, where the cost of energy particularly affects our business".

The cogeneration plant produces 5 MW of electric power and also satisfies the needs for thermal energy of the entire site with around 4 MW. The recovery of thermal energy, in its noble and less noble state, allows for a 75% exploitation of the cogeneration plant. This efficiency ratio is very high, especially when compared to the average efficiency of traditional electric plants which usually do not exceed 55%.

Thanks to the high efficiency, the cogeneration plant allows considerable savings on combustion, with the consequent drop of emissions into the atmosphere by approximately 45% in comparison with traditional sources. The environmental benefit estimated is a reduction of CO2 emissions of around 14.000 tons per year.

The reduction of the environmental impact of the site at Novedrate makes it eligible for white certificates of energy efficiency. This is in addition to the recycling activities of the Group, which for more than ten years has been producing polyester internally from PET post consumer bottles, thus allowing a significant reduction of CO2 emissions over the entire life cycle of its finished products.

Novedrate, February 2009