Freudenberg Politex

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