Kingspan cleared over false advertising claim

Building materials group Kingspan has been cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over allegations it lied about a product’s end of life value.

Roofing company Querdron claimed Kingspan could not substantiate claims about its EcoSafe insulation panels made in a brochure targeted at industry buyers.

Kingspan had claimed the panels had “a commercial value for disposal at the end of life, subject to transport costs”, that disposal of the panels was cost neutral and the average income in some cases was 10p per square metre.

Querdron said the three claims could either not be substantiated or were unrealistic and also challenged cradle-to-grave diagrams in the brochure.

A final adjudication by the ASA found the advertisement did not breach any clauses.

The ASA said: “We concluded Kingspan had substantiated the claim that the processing of panels through shredder plants was approximately cost neutral.”

Kingspan marketing boss Chris Witte said the company had been “vindicated”.

He said: “It is time the mineral fibre industry stopped trying to undermine confidence in Kingspan products, and get on with the job of competing fairly.”