ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA) announced the results of its annual survey of members' use of pre- and post-consumer recycled materials in their insulation products. For the first time, this survey includes data from both United States and Canadian manufacturing facilities.

According to the 2004 usage survey, NAIMA and NAIMA Canada members together utilized more than 2.2 billion pounds of recycled post-consumer glass and blast furnace slag in the manufacturing process of thermal and acoustical insulation. This is the equivalent of filling a football field plus the end zones to a depth of more than 518 feet.

Manufacturers in the United States increased use of recycled materials by 12 percent over 2003 and 17 percent since 1992. Over the past 12 years, NAIMA members' U.S. plants have diverted nearly 26 billion pounds of recyclable materials from the waste stream.

"Our members continue to take steps to employ environmentally friendly activities at all levels of production - from the initial use of recycled materials in the manufacturing process to the end product," said Ken Mentzer, president and CEO of NAIMA. "Fiberglass and rock and slag wool insulations are some of the best choices available for residential and commercial green building."

While NAIMA Canada members have used recycled materials for many years, this was the first year it was measured in NAIMA's annual survey.

Canadian facilities used more than 321 million pounds of recycled glass and more than 61 million pounds of slag to the manufacturing of thermal and acoustical insulation products. U.S. facilities used almost 1.2 billion pounds of recycled glass and nearly 670 million pounds of slag to produce fiberglass and slag wool insulation products.

Publication date: 07/11/2005