Owens Corning Advances Recycling Throughout the Supply Chain

November 11, 2009 8:00 AM EST

TOLEDO, Ohio, Nov. 11 / PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) today announced significant advancements in the use of recycled content, end-of-life solutions and the company's collaboration with the recycling industry.

Recycled Content

Owens Corning Fiberglas® insulation products have the highest certified recycled content for fiberglass insulation in North America. With an additional ten percent recycled content, Owens Corning residential and commercial insulation products in North America now are made of at least half recycled glass content (minimum 50%). In addition to keeping glass out of landfills, using recycled content also helps reduce Owens Corning's energy use and CO2 emissions as melting recycled glass requires significantly less energy.

Additionally, Owens Corning's Cultured Stone® and ProStone® brands are the first manufactured stone veneer products to receive third party validation for recycled content. UL Environment(TM) Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Underwriters Laboratories, provided the third party testing and validation for a minimum 35 percent recycled content.

"One of the green product attributes that matters most is resource efficiency. This includes using recycled materials, producing products that can be practically recycled and reducing energy and material use in manufacturing," said Owens Corning's Chief Sustainability Officer, Frank O'Brien-Bernini. "As we work to green our operations and our products, we are finding ways to drive positive impact up and down the supply chain and in our communities through recycling efforts."

End-of-Life Recycling

Asphalt shingles are the most widely used roofing products for aesthetics, durability and installed costs. Recognizing the opportunity to provide a more sustainable end-of-life solution for asphalt shingles, Owens Corning's Roofing business developed a program to simplify shingle recycling for its Preferred Roofing Contractors. Through the program, Owens Corning connects roofing contractors with convenient drop-offs and recycling centers run by Heritage Environmental Services. Heritage, the largest privately-held environmental services company in the US, will provide dedicated, convenient drop-off centers that will recycle and process shingle tear-offs for the materials to be used in paving.

Working with the Recycling Industry

A common roadblock to increasing recycling efforts can be a lack of recycling programs or technical reuse limitations. Owens Corning works closely with the recycling industry to remove barriers to keeping recyclable waste from going to landfills.

In addition to the strategic alliance with Heritage for shingle recycling, Owens Corning worked in Kansas City, Mo, to help create America's first self-contained metropolitan recycling system. Through a strategic alliance, Owens Corning will purchase recycled glass from the new recycling processor Ripple Glass and use the recycled materials in its local facility producing fiberglass insulation. Owens Corning is helping to keep glass out of landfills, eliminating the need to transport recycled glass hundreds of miles and providing an opportunity for the local community to now engage in recycling glass.

To learn more about Owens Corning sustainability efforts including recycling, visit www.owenscorning.com/sustainability.

About Owens Corning

Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) is a leading global producer of residential and commercial building materials, glass-fiber reinforcements and engineered materials for composite systems. A Fortune 500 company for 55 consecutive years, Owens Corning is committed to driving sustainability through delivering solutions, transforming markets and enhancing lives. Founded in 1938, Owens Corning is a market-leading innovator of glass-fiber technology with sales of $6 billion in 2008 and about 16,000 employees in 30 countries on five continents. Additional information is available at www.owenscorning.com.

SOURCE Owens Corning

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