Recycled vs. Virgin Fiber in Cellulose Insulation
timgodshall
| Posted in General Questions on
Are cellulose manufacturers still using recycled material? My insulation contractor told me that cellulose manufacturers are using a lot more virgin fiber and a lot less recycled for cellulose insulation these days. Does anyone have any knowledge about this trend? Is there a point at which the embodied energy/climate impact of cellulose would exceed that of open cell foam if enough virgin fiber was used in the cellulose?
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Replies
Tim,
I just wrote an article on this topic; it will be published in a few weeks. Your insulation contractor is wrong. Cellulose insulation manufacturers are still using recycled paper (and some recycled cardboard) to make their insulation. I didn't find any evidence that any manufacturer uses virgin wood fiber.
I think the cellulose insulation manufacturers have another financial incentive to use recycled material too: they can probably source it cheaper. To make recycled paper back into regular paper again, it has to be bleached white. Cellulose insulation manufacturers obviously don't need to worry about that step, so they can more directly utilize the recycled paper pulp. It seems like a natural fit to use recycled material here.
While I have found that manufacturers don't always do what seems obvious, in this case Martin has the data to back up that the manufacturers are sticking with recycled materials.
Bill
Thank you Martin and Bill. I'm glad to hear that they aren't cutting down trees just to make cellulose fiber! I look forward to reading your article when it comes out, Martin.
Your insulation contractor may be confusing "virgin fiber" with "post-industrial fiber," which is newsprint that has not been printed on yet, as opposed to post-consumer waste. As far as I know, every manufacturer uses a mix of post-industrial and post-consumer fiber in their mix. I look forward to Martin's research as well.