In Grodków, in the south-west of Poland, Austrotherm (Waldegg / Austria; www.austrotherm.at) has started up another plant for the production of expanded polystyrene insulation materials. The Austrian company has invested EUR 5.5m in the new facility, its third in Poland alongside Oświęcim and Skierniewice. The workforce currently stands at 15 and can, depending on how capacity expands, be increased to 50 if necessary.

“The demand for EPS insulation sheets has been growing continually in Poland for many years,” said Klaus Haberfellner, managing director of the Austrotherm Group, explaining the reason for the expansion in Poland. “This growth is due firstly to the rising energy prices and secondly to the smog-control programme launched in 2019, which financially supports thermal renovation measures in private households.”

Austrotherm opened its Oświęcim facility in 1993, adding a site in Skierniewice in 1999. Together with íts Grodków plant, the company currently has 145 employees in Poland.

In Austria, the firm recently began offering a nation-wide pick-up service for extruded polystyrene building scrap. At its Purbach site, the waste is shredded in a crusher, then ground and prepared for recycling in the production process. Every recycled tonne of XPS saves the equivalent of 1.8 t of CO₂, according to Heimo Pascher, technical director at Austrotherm Austria. To be able to recycle XPS without problems, however, it must not be soiled or contaminated.