Last week Ecophon announced that it has made a huge leap towards a completely sustainable life cycle of acoustic panels – with their acoustic ceiling panels now completely green and eco-friendly.
Acoustics is one of the industries where it is possible to take full advantage of one the most common items that we throw in our recycling bins every day: glass.
Eco-Friendly 3rd Generation Wool.
The glass wool used in Ecophon’s acoustic panels is made from over 70% recycled material, including “household glass, rejected glass bottles, internal scraps from the glass wool production process”.
Additionally, panels made from 3rd generation glass wool are bound using a renewable plant-based agent, replacing the traditional petroleum based binders. According to Ecophon, this saves an equivalent of 24,000 barrels of crude oil annually.
As the lightest acoustic solution on the market, glass wool uses far less fuel for transport when compared to felt acoustic products; saving up to 17% of fuel on any given trip.
A Complete Life Re-Cycle.
Ecophon has also announced that by 2016 all of its acoustic panels will be recycled once they are no longer wanted. In their own words:
“We have…developed a recycling program for all our products with 3rd generation glass wool. From January 1st 2016, we will accept the return of these panels and turn them into EcoDrain™.”
Bravo Ecophon! Another welcome leap forward in environmentally sustainable design…
References:
- Ecophon, (2015). Available at: http://www.ecophon.com/en/Sustainability/