Oranges are a popular citrus fruit and we consume millions of them every year. This creates quite a lot of waste products that researchers in Spain have found to be particularly useful in sound insulation.

Orange tree waste may soon be routinely used in sound insulation as a greener alternative to conventional laminated gypsum boards. In tests, boards produced using orange tree waste actually performed better than the conventional materials, which is unusual for environmentally friendly products where compromises are often made on cost and performance.

Production of the orange-tree-based insulation boards starts when trimmings are gathered and processed before being combined with polypropylene, which admittedly isn’t so environmentally friendly as tree waste, but still a significant step towards sustainability in the sound insulation industry.

In tests the insulation boards produced from orange tree waste had the potential to rate as high as 29dBA. This was a 50% improvement on the performance of conventional laminated gypsum boards.

Oranges may not be the only fruit when it comes to greener sound insulation either. Olive tree waste is also being tested and preliminary results are just as promising.

Sound insulation companies are currently considering the costs involved in using the new greener boards in the future.