Home » Etex in France: Key Sites France represents the largest market for Etex a global building materials company specializing in lightweight construction solutions Our reporter Erin Tallman visited three of its centers located in Mazan Following the grand opening of its Bristol factory Etex invited us to a guided press tour of three significant locations in the Provence region of France: Mazan France plays a crucial role in Etex’s global operations contributing approximately 20% of the company’s revenue The tour allowed us to explore firsthand how Etex is utilizing its expertise in plasterboard production and sustainability practices to drive innovation across the construction industry The day’s visits also gave a glimpse into Etex’s role as a leader in sustainable construction materials Their Mazan quarry integrates plasterboard recycling to reduce gypsum extraction The R&D pilot line in Carpentras is pioneering the world’s first 100% recycled gypsum plasterboard In their Innovation Technology Center (ITC) in Avignon groundbreaking products like Aquaboard and Weather Defence are tested Etex is committed to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in sustainable construction France is Etex’s largest and most important market With a strong workforce of nearly 1,800 employees across 18 sites Etex’s French operations are a crucial part of its global strategy France is home to several of Etex’s leading brands which is recognized for its technical plasterboard solutions which together form a robust portfolio of high-performance construction materials is at the forefront of technical innovation in plasterboard They are developing solutions that are high-performing and environmentally responsible The company’s dedication to sustainability is evident in its commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and optimizing resource use across its French operations The Etex site in Saint-Loubès was awarded the “Trophée USINE RSE de l’année” for its outstanding management of water resources Its comprehensive training and customer support programs ensure that clients can fully leverage the company’s cutting-edge solutions These numerous attributions have established Etex as a trusted partner in the French construction industry the largest open-cast gypsum quarry in France which began as an underground operation in 1924 now spans 700 meters long and 400 meters wide 350,000 tonnes of gypsum are extracted annually What sets this quarry apart is its strong focus on environmental preservation Etex has implemented a thorough biodiversity monitoring program that protects local flora and fauna Etex also aims to minimize gypsum extraction through recycling efforts reducing the need for raw material extraction by 100,000 tonnes per year ensuring gypsum availability for future generations and that’s the goal—creating a circular economy that benefits the environment and our business,” Vivien Bonnelles we visited the Carpentras R&D pilot line a €5 million investment inaugurated in September 2022 This 1,200m² facility is dedicated to developing and testing plasterboard innovations the pilot line allows for rapid prototyping and testing of new formulations without disrupting industrial-scale operations More than 120 R&D tests are conducted annually at the site Etex successfully developed the world’s first 100% recycled gypsum plasterboard This is a major step forward in the company’s mission to reduce its environmental impact The final stop on our tour was Etex’s Innovation Technology Center (ITC) in Avignon This state-of-the-art facility has been at the forefront of plasterboard research and development for over 20 years The ITC’s focus areas include decarbonizing products and developing new technologies for exterior applications of plasterboard Products such as Aquaboard and Weather Defence which are designed for ventilated cladding and timber-frame construction respectively were developed and rigorously tested at this facility the ITC filed 30 patents and launched 59 new products​ Etex is taking significant steps to revolutionize the construction industry with the announcement of several new products each designed to enhance sustainability and performance The most groundbreaking of these is the 100% recycled gypsum plasterboard This product will be exclusively manufactured in France before being expanded to other countries This plasterboard is composed almost entirely of recycled materials and its launch represents a significant milestone in Etex’s commitment to advancing the circular economy The product will primarily target clients involved in large-scale projects who are seeking eco-certifications Another exciting innovation is the introduction of Resiclip This system allows for the easy installation of plasterboards which feature a pre-cut slit on the side that fits with metal strips The innovative design eliminates the need for joint strips making installation faster and simpler for non-professional users This product is expected to resonate with the growing DIY market a new plasterboard that is 25% lighter than its predecessor yet still offers superior acoustic performance—ideal for venues requiring high sound insulation This improves ease of installation and reduces the carbon footprint associated with transportation and handling These product announcements underscore Etex’s dedication to combining performance and sustainability ensuring that the company continues to lead in innovation while reducing its environmental impact.  “While there will never be enough waste to produce all of our products from recycled materials we are committed to finding new ways to increase our use of gypsum waste and deliver sustainable solutions to the market,” Eric Bertrand stated during our guided tour of the Pilot Line in Carpentras and focus on sustainable building solutions Etex is well-positioned to continue shaping the future of construction—both in France and across the globe You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience Soren and Envie 2E Aquitaine have inaugurated a new solar module recycling facility in Saint-Loubès From pv magazine France French recycling group Soren (formerly PV Cycle France) and Envie 2E Aquitaine have inaugurated a recycling center for PV modules in Saint-Loubès Envie 2E Aquitaine was selected following a call for tenders launched by Soren The €2 million ($1.9 million) plant will be able to process 4,000 tons of panels per year and will employ 25 people The facility is the first of its kind in Europe as it uses a hot blade delamination process This makes it possible to recover flat glass and isolate the polymer layer containing the cells which is the main process used in recycling plants The technology comes from Japan-based NPC Incorporated The consortium claims the plant will make it possible to recycle 95% of the materials used in solar panels “This extends the lifecycle of the components It is a way of considering recycling no longer as a way of recycling waste but as a way of producing raw materials,” said Nicolas Defrenne Soren launched a tender in February 2021 to set up three new facilities to recycle solar panels in France Two of the installations have been in service since June 2021 4 to add that NPC Incorporated is the supplier of the hot blade delamination technology More articles from Gwénaëlle Deboutte Please be mindful of our community standards and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" This website uses cookies to anonymously count visitor numbers. View our privacy policy. × The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this Close Dr. Lisa Stein Haven's fourth book on silent film comedy — this one titled The Rise & Fall of Max Linder: The First Cinema Celebrity — was just released Haven is professor of English and teaches at Ohio University’s Zanesville campus. She collaborated on the book with Catherine Cormon, a head film curator at the EYE Film Museum in Amsterdam Haven and Cormon put the spotlight on Max Linder a French comedian who predated Charlie Chaplin and may have been the first big screen celebrity claimed the title of ‘first cinema celebrity,’ but new research by colleagues Andrew Shail and Georg Renken call Lawrence’s claim on this title into question,” says Haven But this movie star’s life story involves both comedy and tragedy, according to the book’s website started in films with the Pathe Brothers in Vincennes making him one of the first film comedians that became world-renowned there is evidence that Linder was the first screen celebrity to see his name in print His comedy timing and gags (Linder started writing his own scenarios early on) have been copied and imitated by many of his followers Linder’s story is both a comedy and a tragedy His meteoric rise to fame by 1907/8 hit a roadblock in 1914 with the onset of World War I and was dealt a death blow by his attempts to revive his career in America and Austria His marriage to a young wife was ill-fated and ill-timed leading Linder to take the life of his wife and himself on the night of October 31 who would devote her life to restoring his film legacy “Linder came to America twice to try his hand at making films here,” Haven notes “pretty much failing to achieve the level of popularity he possessed before World War I in France for he was dead just three years after his departure from our shores.” Haven received a Baker Fund award in 2017 to work on the book project Endowed in 1961 by a gift of more than $612,000 from 1926 College of Arts & Sciences graduate Edwin L a 1930 graduate of the College of Education Baker Fund was established to support faculty improvement and research efforts Haven’s previous books include A Comedian Sees the World and Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp in America She specializes in British and American modernist literature especially the work of Charlie and Syd Chaplin © 2025 Ohio University Voices from all sides are unhappy in the aftermath of a case involving 380,000 cases worth of Spanish bulk wine fraudulently labeled as Bordeaux In January, Bordeaux's tribunal handed down sentences for five wine professionals found guilty in the largest wine fraud case in recent memory Tribunal president Marie-Elisabeth Boulnois passed out ankle bracelets for the worst infractions But both defendants and plaintiffs are claiming that justice has not been served The elaborate multimillion-dollar fraud involved trucking hundreds of thousands of cases worth of cheap Spanish bulk wine north to France changing the official paperwork to reflect a French origin and bottling it and selling it as more valuable Bordeaux appellations formerly in sales at major cooperative Celliers Vinicoles du Blayais (CVB) the quantities involved and previous convictions," said Boulnois Both men will serve their prison sentences under house arrest They were the only two convicted of deception (consumer fraud) Both are banned from working in the wine trade for five years Banchereau and Bernard received suspended prison sentences and €12,000 fines who ran the Bégadanet cellars in the Médoc where the bottling took place was found guilty of transporting undocumented wine All five were held mutually responsible for a €670,000 fiscal fine for putting irregular merchandise into circulation saying "These fiscal fines are totally out of proportion." She argued that the five were "lampistes"—junior employees taking the blame for more powerful criminals "They were employed by companies to find suppliers These people were never the ones who made money in this affair The ones who made money thanks to this affair weren't here [in court]." which receive small compensations in the vicinity of €12,500 Federation of Négociants of Bordeaux and Libourne and Confederation Paysanne spokesperson for the Confederation Paysanne expressed disappointment that the investigation had not made clear who had given the orders "When you buy a bottle of Bordeaux or even Vin de France you shouldn't have to wonder whether it's 'real' or not." Enjoy Unfiltered? The best of Unfiltered's round-up of drinks in pop culture can now be delivered straight to your inbox every other week! Sign up now to receive the Unfiltered e-mail newsletter, featuring the latest scoop on how wine intersects with film, TV, music, sports, politics and more. Archaeologists partner with southern Italian winemakers to bring grapegrowing and winemakin… It's real and it's rare. When Coop from the new Apple TV+ series lifted a bottle from a … José Andrés, Thomas Keller, Alice Waters and Jamie Oliver star in the new season of … The Duchess of Sussex brings plenty of bubbly and food to her new Netflix Lifestyle Series … New archaeological research uncovers chemical compounds in multiple types of drinking … An ambitious renovation of the stone winery in Rutherford is uncovering layers of American … A new report from the Australian Centre of Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP) has recommended a raft of measures for solar panel recycling including the establishment of waste facilities in five Australian cities by 2027 Scoping study: Solar Panel End-of-Life Management in Australia found that the projected cumulative volume of decommissioned solar panels is likely to reach one million tonnes by 2035 which is led by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) found that based on current projections as much as 100,000t of photovoltaic (PV) waste may be generated annually by the end of the decade found that the problem is more pressing than previously thought and contradicts earlier findings that significant volumes of waste would not appear until at least after 2030 the majority of waste solar panels are expected to concentrate in Sydney and Adelaide – before PV waste starts growing faster in regional and remote areas from 2030 onwards The first wave of increased waste is expected to come from decommissioned rooftop solar panels and the report said near-term action is needed to boost the levels of recycling and prevent this waste going into landfill The authors have called for sites in the five major cities to deal with 5,000 to 10,000 tonnes of waste panels per year with that volume needing to double at each facility in the next six years Those metropolitan facilities are predicted to be able to manage more than 70 per cent of Australia’s solar panel waste with additional smaller sites in Dubbo/Wellington Central Highlands and Busselton providing a comprehensive nation-wide service “The total material value from end-of-life solar panels is projected to surpass $1 billion by 2035 establishing domestic PV waste management facilities in Australia presents an opportunity for resource recovery Recycling offers a gateway to reducing landfill “This report was developed to provide a detailed analysis of the waste volumes and distributions needed to prepare for future waste from rooftop and large scale solar,” Ms Egan said said that there is economic value in building facilities that are able to properly recycle panels that come to the end of their useful life “Solar panels are made of materials like aluminium panels should be viewed as valuable resources rather than waste and cost-effective solutions are needed to deal with large volumes in the coming decade “More than 80 per cent of the decommissioned solar panels by 2030 are projected to emanate from small-scale distributed PV systems attributable to the earlier evolution of Australia’s residential PV market we need a clearly defined management framework and new technologies to transform the challenge of end-of-life solar panels into sustainable business opportunities with positive economic environmental and social outcomes,” Ms Deng said The ACAP report advises that the new facilities should be dedicated to full material recovery focusing exclusively on recycling solar panels through comprehensive processes designed specifically for the purpose with the aim of achieving higher recycling rates and revenue The cost of recycling solar panels currently ranges from $500 and $1,000 per tonne covering transportation and before accounting for the revenue from sold materials This estimate assumes that the recycling facilities handle approximately 5,000 tonnes of panels each year The major expenses in the recycling process are the capital expenditures required for facility setup and the ongoing labour costs Featured image: Decommissioned solar panels As the dust settles from the 2025 Federal Election Energy is revisiting the Labor Party’s energy policies and election promises.. As the energy industry transforms under the influence of technological innovation professionals are challenged to keep up by adopting smarter.. All content published on this site is the property of Prime Creative Media Police divers have recovered the body of Chateau de La Riviere's ex-owner more than a month after his helicopter crashed into the Dordogne river but Chinese billionaire Lam Kok is still missing James Gregoire (left) and Lam Kok agreed the sale of La Riviere just hours before the crash Several hours of DNA testing have confirmed that the body police pulled from the Dordogne at Saint-Loubes late last week is that of James Gregoire In January, the new general manager of La Riviere, Xavier Buffo, told decanter.com of the team’s plan to press ahead with development plans ‘This is still very fresh and painful but every one of us is determined to honour their memory,’ said Buffo