REGUPOL was founded in 1954 and creates its products from high-quality recycled and reprocessed materials. With this approach, REGUPOL has become one of the leading suppliers of sports and safety flooring, antislip mats for load securing, products for impact sound insulation and vibration isolation, as well as protective and separating layers. In these market segments, REGUPOL draws on on almost 70 years of experience and is one of the leaders in many markets. With the company is based in Bad Berleburg, Germany, REGUPOL employs well over 700 people worldwide who use their professional expertise to offer their customers the most suitable solutions. REGUPOL’s subsidiary companies are: REGUPOL America LLC, REGUPOL Australia Pty. Ltd., REGUPOL Acoustics Middle East FZE, REGUPOL Schweiz AG, REGUPOL Zebra Athletics LLC and BSW Shanghai CO. LTD. In the past year, REGUPOL achieved a turnover of around €120 million and recycled more than 90,000 tons of elastomers. REGUPOL is a winner of the NRW 2020 business and environment award.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
REGUPOL: REGUPOL is one of the world’s leading suppliers of sports floors, running tracks, fall protection floors, products for impact sound- and vibration insulation, protection and separation layers for the construction industry and anti-slip mats for load securing.
E.E: What’s the news for 2021 about new products?
REGUPOL: Running Tracks: REGUPOL recently developed a time- and cost-saving enhancement to its REGUPOL champion AG running tracks. The introduction of 4.0 Technology achieves the cost-saving elimination of a complete step in the installation of these so-called sandwich running track systems. Installation formerly required sealing the base mat to prevent the self-leveling PUR wear layer from penetrating the mat during installation. This step is now completely omitted without changing the structure and performance of the REGUPOL base mat. After bonding the REGUPOL base mat, the liquid PUR wear layer is poured directly onto the elastic layer. The sport-functional properties, which are always identical due to fabrication in our factories, remain unchanged however installation time and budget are decreased. Please see more information here.
Acoustics: Vibration isolation products from REGUPOL were recently tested and proven to remain effective for more than 50 years. This testing, conducted by the independent lab at the Karlsruher Institute of Technology, included the entire range of REGUPOL and REGUFOAM vibration products with varying load capacities. Applying the most technologically advanced properties, REGUPOL products float a building on its foundation, so that unwanted noise and vibration stemming from nearby train tracks, subways or mechanical equipment does not affect the building and its occupants, especially in dense urban environments. The results show that REGUPOL and REGUFOAM vibration isolation products routinely outperform the minimum sound isolation requirements of most projects. REGUPOL is the first manufacturer worldwide to achieve this level of testing and resilience. The REGUFOAM vibration range of products is a mixed-cell polyurethane foam, developed and engineered for vibration and structure-borne sound isolation. It is available in 12 unique types, each for a specific load range. It offers outstanding vibration isolation while supplying minimal deflection. This material comes in standard thicknesses of 25 mm (1in.) and 12.5 mm (½in.) and can be installed in multiple layers to achieve a total thickness of 37.5 mm (1 ½in.), 50 mm (2in.) or more.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
REGUPOL: In the field of acoustics, we manufacture a comprehensive range of noise abatement products, offering wall and ceiling isolation systems to provide a reliable solution to effectively reduce airborne noise between rooms. The REGUPOL sonus product system, including underlayment, clips and adhesives, stops structure-borne noise by bridging the dry wall and the false wall. Excellent acoustic building values can be achieved with easy-to-install REGUPOL sonusclips rubber and metal fasteners—even where little wall mass is available. This offers acoustic technicians and architects a ”sound solution” when it comes to structural flexibility.
REGUPOL underlayment products in the REGUPOL sonus and REGUPOL comfort ranges provide a comprehensive toolbox of healthy acoustic specifications for longevity and a higher quality of life in densely populated urban centers. The sonus range includes smooth and profiled versions that make designing specific under-floor solutions easy, include bonding technology, and a wide range of under-screed impact sound insulations. REGUPOL sonus products are tested to ISO and ASTM standards and can also be tailored to the needs of a specific project. The REGUPOL comfort range is especially attractive to customers in Europe. With CE certification, it can be installed with confidence throughout the European Economic region.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
REGUPOL: In athletics, we are keeping an eye on global sporting events and whether they will take place or experience additional postponement, as we saw with the 2020 Olympics. However, we are seeing some national events moving forward as planned such as the Italian National Championships which will take place June 25-27 in Rovereto, Italy and will be run on a REGUPOL track which you can see here.
On a local level, the global pandemic has definitely impacted the way people use and live in their homes. For example, with most gyms closed or with limited access and the virus keeping people indoors, consumers have turned to home equipment to stay fit while confined. Our North American subsidiary reports that since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, sales of its fitness flooring products have increased by 330%.
In the acoustics markets, we are paying close attention to trends in urbanization, which is increasing. According to United Nations forecasting, seven out of ten people will live in cities by 2050. Faced with a huge shortage of space, mixed-use concepts bring high-density tower blocks and space-saving neighborhood developments to life. However, maintaining quality of life and longevity in close proximity of living, working and leisure activities relies critically on specifying the right acoustic solutions.
The World Health Organization reports noise pollution as only second to air pollution in detrimental environmental health factors. In the post-COVID era of working from here, people are seeking live-work environments more than ever. But that means acoustics and building sound isolation are not only critical to the success and long-term viability of a development, it is the only sustainable way to build in cities where people will be living and working in the same building.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2021?
REGUPOL: The year 2021 will be marked in part by the Coronavirus pandemic, though it is difficult to make an assessment now. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been available to our customers as desired thanks to extensive digital solutions, e.g. home office solutions. We follow developments in raw material procurement, logistics and production on a daily basis, as well as all political requirements. As of today, we can say that REGUPOL has come through the Coronavirus crisis well. Despite the pandemic, we feel positive about 2021 and look forward to many exciting new customer projects.