November 8, 2002—The North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA) recently completed its 10th Annual Recycling Survey of its members, which manufacture fiberglass and slag wool insulation. The survey results show that in the last ten years for which data is available, NAIMA’s members have used nearly 9.5 billion pounds of recycled glass and nearly 11 billion pounds of recycled blast furnace slag for the manufacture of fiberglass and mineral wool insulation.
Fiberglass insulation products are now made with up to 40 percent recycled glass, and are the largest secondary market for recycled glass containers according to the Glass Packaging Institute. An added environmental benefit is that by using recycled glass along with raw materials, manufacturers consume less energy to produce their product than by using the raw materials alone.
The industry estimates that over 90 percent of slag used in slag wool insulation is purchased from manufacturers and the remaining 10 percent mined directly from waste disposal sites.
