Acoustic Solutions with Positive Impact for People While Minimising the Environmental Footprint

We are proud to say that our products meet recognised Sustainability standards and help promote the circular economy.

green building

We are proud to say that our products meet recognised Sustainability standards and help promote the circular economy. As part of ROCKWOOL Group, we have committed to ambitious sustainability targets, and we are actively taking steps towards achieving those goals. To learn how we are working to meet our ambitious targets, you can download our Sustainability report. 

Our actions towards Sustainability are not limited only to our final products, but also to our whole value chain. We follow a life cycle approach in all our actions and improvements for the future. We look at the full life cycle of our products, making interventions from the raw material stage, manufacturing, and indoor use, all the way to the end of their life.

Our value chain impact

Rockfon value chain impact

Raw Materials 

Our raw materials are the bedrock of our Sustainability story. The core material for Rockfon solutions is volcanic stones, one of the planet’s most abundant resources.  We also recycle old stone wool material and waste from other industries. This helps reduce the amount of waste that would go to landfills. We also recycle our own production waste. All of those combined make us an active contributor to the circular economy. 

Stone wool is a closed-loop, fully recyclable material. We don’t down cycle, in fact, our stone wool products can be recycled repeatedly without any change in their quality. Our ROCKWOOL factories receive recollected stone wool waste which we turn into briquettes and feed them back to our production, instead of using virgin stone. By that, new high-quality stone wool products are produced, with a high percentage of recycled content.

In this way, the recycled content in our products was on average 47% in 2020, reaching up to 64% according to ISO 14021. We are always looking for ways to increase our recycled content through technological advances and partnerships to reduce landfill waste.  

All ingredients in our solutions are regularly screened for hazardous substances. Finally, all our suppliers are expected to sign our Supply Code of Conduct and comply with it.

Exploding Volcano, matte

Manufacturing  

We are always looking for ways to make our manufacturing process more environmentally friendly. We invest in new technology, exploit the natural circularity of stone wool, and make our factories more energy efficient. We have a very ambitious decarbonisation strategy that is tied to the Science Based Targets initiative. You can find information about it in our Sustainability report. 

  • All our stone wool factories are ISO 14001 certified. 
  • No stone wool factories send stone wool waste to landfills.  
  • Reduce water consumption intensity (m³/t stone wool) from our stone wool production facilities by 20% by 2030 (10% by 2022).
  • We aim to reduce CO2 emission intensity (CO2/t stone wool) from our stone wool production facilities by 20% by 2030 (10% by 2022). 
  • We aim to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 38% by 2034 (science-based target). 

Indoor Use 

Sustainability also means well-being. Our acoustic solutions are designed to look and sound great.  Having an environment that protects us from unwanted noise and enables a good indoor climate can have a huge positive impact on our physical health and well-being. More specific, our products:

  • Have the best-in-class indoor climate labels.  
  • Have high light reflection and diffusion that can help you get you 11% more natural light and save up to 23% in electric lighting energy per year. 
  • Have a very low calorific content. This makes them certifiably non-combustible and able to limit fire from spreading via their surface to other materials.

End of Life 

Our products have high durability and offer consistent performance throughout their life. Their long-lasting performance contributes to the global environmental efforts for waste reduction. On top of that, they are designed for disassembly and modularity, which is another important aspect of Sustainability.  Building materials that are modular can be reused and reconfigured if you need to make changes to your space. This is better for the environment because it means fewer materials will be disposed.

Circularity is an integral part of our Sustainability story. After installation, we can collect and recycle the cut-offs and when it's time to retire our acoustic ceiling solutions, we can do that too. We turn our products into new durable solutions repeatedly without affecting the quality or down-cycling them into other products with a lower value.

We offer recycling services in many of the countries where we operate. We are always looking for ways to improve our recycling services and expand our network of waste handling partners across Europe.  We are also in close collaboration with our customers to best contribute to the common effort of reducing landfill waste. 

RockWorld imagery,The Big Picture, circularity, reuse, stonewool, recycling

Sustainability Documentation  

We have all the necessary documentation to prove the Sustainability performance of our products:

Environment Product Declarations (EPDs) 

We have conducted Life Cycle Assessment for all our product portfolio followed by a 3rd party verified EPD. We continuously improve our footprint and update  our EPDs with the latest improvements and additions to our product portfolio.

Cradle to Cradle certificates 

Rockfon acoustic ceiling and wall solutions are Cradle to Cradle Certified®. This proves that our products are safe, sustainable and that they support the circular economy. Cradle to Cradle® is a globally recognised measure which credits solutions that leave a positive impact on people and the planet.  

Our acoustic solutions are Cradle to Cradle Certified® in both Bronze and Silver level. This means that when you choose Rockfon you are getting more than just a great product, you get a real commitment to a more sustainable future.

Continuous Improvement & Innovation 

Innovation is at the heart of Rockfon design & product development. We are constantly exploring new materials, processes & partnerships to increase not only the Sustainability performance of our products, but the overall value creation towards our customers. Our overall goal is to make products with positive impact for people and the planet. 

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