The winner of the Nordbygg Gold Medal hailed for circularity and low emission values

Recoma byggskivor (Recoma building panels) won the Nordbygg Gold Medal, the award for this year’s most innovative product for 2022. The panes are completely made up of recycled composite packaging, where only heat and pressure is used in the production process which contributes to a low carbon footprint.

The prize was awarded during Thursday afternoon at the fair and is a competition arranged by Nordbygg in collaboration with Svensk Byggtjänst. Out of ten nominated product news, first place was claimed by Recoma building panels.

Many curious visitors were there and on the Nordbygg Talks Stage, Lina Hann, Project Manager at Nordbygg and Charlotte Steen, editor in chief of Byggkoll at Svensk Byggtjänst handed out the award and read the jury’s justification:

”This year, the jury chooses to reward circularity and the avoidance of suing hazardous substances in our built environment. To use end-of-life beverage packaging gives very low emission values of both TVOC* as well as formaldehyde, and the production in Sweden contributes to keeping transports to a minimum. ‘The jury is impressed by the innovative product and its potential for large-scale production. Since the material is recycled, the carbon footprint is low and contributes to a more sustainable public construction. Recoma is awarded the gold medal for its building panels, made in Sweden from recycled packaging.’

– We have had several good nominees this year, but unfortunately there is only one winner. The Recoma building panel is an important contribution to the development we see in the sector at the moment, and thereby contributes to a more sustainable public construction industry, says Lina Hahn.

‘Rocket speed’
Recoma building panels are made in Sweden from recycled composite packaging that otherwise would have gone to waste. The raw material is processed through drying, sterilisation, grinding and is finally pressed together under high temperature. Nothing is added during production and the energy used for pressure and heat comes entirely from renewable energy. Spillage of material during cutting goes back into the process as new raw material.

– It feels very unexpected to win the Nordbygg Gold Medal, but it’s certainly a confirmation that we are on the right track in the industry. We are relatively new, as we’ve only been in business just over a year, so it has really gone by at rocket speed,says Max Rosenberg, CEO at Recoma and the winner of this year’s Nordbygg Gold Medal.

Alongside Max Rosenberg, Martin Ljungberg and Fredrik Rosenberg, both sales staff at Recoma, were on stage to accept the award.

Rewarded for circularity

The prize has been awarded for 10 years and this year, the variation among nominated productswas great, although the common denominator was sustainability, with everything from circular thinking to new exciting materials and solutions.

– This year’s winner of the Nordbygg Gold Medal reflects sustainability and circular thinking, which is incredibly important in today’s society, not least in the construction industry. We hope and believe that more will be inspired by this year’s winner, so that we together can work towards climate neutral public construction, says Anna Göth, editor in chief of Byggkatalogen at Svensk Byggtjänst.

Apart from Anna Göth, the jury consists of Charlotte Steen, editor in chief of Byggkoll at Svensk Byggtjänst, Anna Ryberg Ågren, CEO of Byggmaterialindustrierna, Björn Florman from the Materials Library and Peter Söderberg, Project Manager for Nordbygg at Stockholmsmässan.

* TVOC = Total volatile organic compounds, i.e. the total content of volatile organic compounds.

For more information about this year’s winner: www.recoma.se

For more information about the Nordbygg Gold Medal:
Lina Hann, Project Manager Nordbygg, lina.hann@stockholmsmassan.se, +46 8-749 44 73