Environment
Emissions, water use and the circular economy are key environmental topics for us, which we address through data-driven decision-making, increased reliance on renewable energy and further emission reduction measures.
Transparent environmental data through standardised reporting
In 2020, we achieved an essential milestone in our environmental data collection efforts thanks to the Etex Green Team. After an induction training session, 30 volunteers collected and reviewed our environmental data to ensure alignment with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. As a result, our now comprehensive group-wide CSR reporting capabilities unlock data-driven benchmarking and improvement, enabling us to seize new opportunities and to keep our stakeholders informed about our progress. The environmental data, based on GRI standards,
will feed into Etex’s first Sustainability Report, which will be published in 2021.
Emissions and our move to renewable energy
Energy intensity
(kWH/t)
% Green electricity produced and purchased/
Total electricity consumption
% Waste recycled/
Total waste treated externally
In 2020, in collaboration with external partners, Etex decided to launch seven photovoltaic projects in Spain, Italy, France, Belgium and Germany.
Committed to the circular economy
We actively seek new sources of alternative raw materials. We aim to extend the lifetime of our products. Next to improving our products’ technical performance in terms of insulation, acoustics and fire resistance, we also aim for the ability to deconstruct, reuse and bring them back into our own manufacturing processes.
We also made strides regarding the reduction of landfilled waste. In 2020, our plants in the UK and Italy were the first to achieve the ambitious goal of zero landfilling by implementing reuse or recycling solutions for all types of waste generated on site.
Innovation for sustainability
We reduced our water consumption in 2020 by 4.3% year-on-year. Innovation will enable us to further improve our results. As one important milestone, we seek to avoid the use of potable water in all industrial proceses.
In 2020, we reinforced life cycle assessments (LCA) and, on this basis, environmental product declarations (EPD) for all main Etex product ranges. This enables end users and architects to calculate and certify the energy performance of all materials we use in our products.
