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Soprema commits to sustainability with Sopraloop

Soprema is recycling and recovering certain residual materials by transforming them into high-performance insulation products for buildings through Sopraloop.

“Our ambition to reduce the carbon footprint of our products relies in large part on our collaboration with our suppliers, be they recycling centres, municipalities, non-profit organizations or businesses. This represents a great opportunity to contribute to Québec’s circular economy”, said Pierre-Andre Lebeuf, sustainable development manager at Soprema.

For several decades, Soprema has been involved in the construction sector. Now with Sopraloop, the manufacturer is taking the next step by integrating recycling into its manufacturing processes, while meeting the growing need for environmentally friendly solutions in the industry.

Sopraloop is a collection and recycling program for residual materials from paper, cardboard, glassine and polystyrene. These materials are then transformed into thermal and acoustic insulation products at Soprema’s Sherbrooke and Sainte-Julie plants, in Quebec.

• Paper, cardboard and glassine: Collected and transformed in Sainte-Julie (QC), these materials are recycled to produce Sopra-Cellulose insulation, made up of more than 80 per cent post-consumer recycled paper and cardboard.

• Polystyrene (PS): Collected mainly from Ecocentres municipalities, it is then sent to the Sherbrooke (QC) plant where it is transformed into Sopra-XPS insulating panels, with up to 70 per cent recycled and recovered content.

The Environmental Impact

By recovering these residual materials, Soprema considerably reduces the quantity of waste sent to landfills, as well as its consumption of virgin petrochemical raw materials. Every year, thanks to Sopraloop, nearly 25,000 tonnes of paper, cardboard and glassine, and about 10,000 tonnes of polystyrene are recycled in Quebec.