Is Multifoil Insulation Sustainable? An Honest Examination

When it comes to insulation, there are few products with as many benefits as multifoil insulation. The right multifoil product can be an incredible boon to any home insulation project, helping you to save space, time and money; all while delivering incredible performance.

But, is it sustainable?

It’s a great question, and it deserves an honest, straightforward answer.

So, let’s take look at multifoil insulation, generally speaking, and how sustainable it is on the whole. It is, however, important to remember that the specific sustainability of any product can (and will) vary dramatically depending on the companies that have a hand in both producing and selling those products.

As such, we’d always encourage you to look into the credentials of your specific insulation manufacturer before you buy.

That being said, this guide is designed to give you a clear, no-frills overview of how sustainable multifoil insulation is more generally, giving you the facts so you can make an informed choice.

Considering Sustainability Over the Lifetime of a Product

To get a true sense of a product’s sustainability, you have to look at its entire lifecycle.

This means examining every stage: from how its raw materials are sourced, to how the product itself is manufactured, to its impact while in use, and — finally — what happens to it when it’s no longer needed.

Taking a holistic view like this is the only way to get the full picture on the sustainability of any insulation product, so let’s dive right in…

How Sustainable are Multifoils to Manufacture?

Multifoil insulation is a composite material, typically built from layers of aluminium foil, wadding, and sometimes foam. These layers work together to create a powerful thermal barrier and a flexible, versatile product that is suitable for a wide range of potential uses.

Manufacturing these components can be energy-intensive. The production of new aluminium, for instance, requires a lot of electricity. However, that is only part of the story, given that many manufacturers now use a high percentage of recycled materials in the process of creating multifoil products.

This means that the aluminium in these foils can be sourced from recycled metal, and the polyester wadding layers can be made from recycled plastics. When done properly, this can significantly reduce the environmental footprint of the manufacturing process and actually lead to a positive impact as these recycled materials are transformed into new products.

While the creation of multifoil insulation has an initial environmental cost, it’s important to remember this is a one-off impact. Especially since the product will often work to actually “pay back” that debt through energy savings. Speaking of which…

How Sustainable are Multifoils When They’re Used?

This is where multifoil insulation truly excels in terms of sustainability. After all, the core purpose of insulation is to make buildings more energy-efficient, meaning these products are inherently going to help reduce energy waste during their lifetimes. Something that multifoils are particularly well suited for, given their capacity to reflect radiant heat, helping to reduce energy wasted on heating buildings even further than otherwise possible.

However, the energy impacts on multifoils aren’t the only way in which they are sustainable. Another major example is down to their lightweight and flexible design, which allows these products to be packed, stored, and transported far more efficiently than the vast majority of traditional insulation options. This helps to dramatically reduce the environmental impact of transporting and storing multifoil products, further improving their sustainability.

How Sustainable are Multifoils After Being Used?

The end-of-life phase is arguably the most challenging for any insulation product from a sustainability perspective.

That being said, multifoil insulation does have some great points going for them in this regard. The products themselves are often largely or entirely recyclable. For example, the aluminium foil layers will always be 100% recyclable, given that aluminium is a very sustainable material that can be readily recycled over and over without any loss of quality.

However, while these products are generally mostly (or even entirely) recyclable in theory, there are some practical issues that can often get in the way of this recyclability. One major challenge is the issue of separating the multifoil back down into it’s individual components. After all, while many of these components are recyclable they often aren’t recyclable while combined into a single product.

This difficulty in separating out multifoils back into their composite, recyclable materials, could lead to the multifoil not being recycled at the end of its lifecycle, even if it is possible to do so. That being said, this isn’t a guaranteed outcome, but rather a difficulty that must be overcome to ensure that these products can become as sustainable as possible.

Big Picture: How Sustainable Are Multifoils?

So, when we pull all these points together, is multifoil insulation sustainable?

Yes.

Given their use of recycled materials in their production, their impressive capacity to reduce energy waste (in multiple ways) during their lifetime use, and the potential to recyclability of these products at the end of their lifespan, we’d certainly say that these products are an impressively sustainable choice.

Ultimately, multifoil insulation is a product designed to solve the problem of energy waste and unsustainable insulation practices, and we believe that it does so extremely effectively. While there are certainly areas where they could (and very likely will) be improved upon, Multifoil insulation products are very much an investment in a more comfortable and dramatically more energy-efficient building, which is absolutely fundamental to the goal of creating a more sustainable future.