What Vartdal Plast does

Vartdal Plastindustri AS is a family-owned Norwegian industrial company founded in 1961 by Jan Vartdal in Nordre Vartdal, today led by the third generation of the Vartdal family (CEO Jan Endre Vartdal, Group Factory Manager Sindre Vartdal). The company manufactures expanded polystyrene (EPS) and extruded polystyrene (XPS) products from a vertically integrated base of eight wholly-owned and four part-owned factories along the Norwegian coast, complemented by an owned logistics fleet of approximately 80 trucks and two in-house EPS compression/recycling facilities.

Its commercial activity splits across two verticals. In building and construction it produces EPS insulation boards (S60-S300 grades), Neopor graphite-enhanced boards (NE60-NE150), XPS boards (VARTDAL 300-700), roof insulation systems, radon barriers, and a portfolio of formwork systems — notably the Vartdal Veggsystem 350/VPX250 insulated wall systems and VRS/VRG/VRU ring beam elements — sold under SINTEF technical approval for residential and commercial projects. In food packaging it produces the Vartdalkassen (the world's first EPS fish box, developed with BASF and Erlenbach in 1965) and the VARTDAL AIRBOX for transporting fresh Norwegian seafood, alongside a packaged VARTDAL LOOP and VARTDAL BIOPOR sustainable range that substitutes recycled pyrolysis oil or biogas feedstocks for fossil naphtha.

Vartdal Plast sells through a direct sales-led model with five regional district managers and an inside-sales team for order processing; products are listed with unit-level pricing on its own e-commerce site with zone-based freight and direct delivery to customer warehouses or construction sites. Pricing is per-unit by SKU (EPS, Neopor, XPS, ring beam elements), with separate full-load XPS agreements and surcharges for special transport. January 2025 saw the company acquire Glava's EPS business, adding plants at Spydeberg and Stjørdal and consolidating its position as a nationwide EPS insulation supplier. ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications cover its production locations, and it operates the 100% VARTDAL PLAST collection/compression recycling program supporting its closed-loop value chain.

Name

Vartdal Plast

Legal name

Vartdal Plastindustri AS

Website

https://vartdalplast.no

Company type

Private

Founded year

1961

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Vartdal Plast is a family-owned Norwegian industrial manufacturer of EPS and XPS insulation, construction formwork systems, and fresh-seafood packaging, serving Norwegian builders and the salmon supply chain via 8 wholly-owned factories, in-house recycling, and a national owned-truck distribution network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Building Insulation and Protective Packaging

NAICS

Polystyrene Foam Product Manufacturing (32614), Polystyrene Foam Product Manufacturing (326140), Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing (326)

SIC

Plastics Foam Products (3086)

akta.pro primary industry

Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Foam Manufacturing (IMANAIAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Foam Plastic Insulation (EPS/XPS/PIR/PUR) (IMADAGAD), Polymer Foams & Cellular Materials (PU Foams, EPS/XPS, Structural Foams) (IMAEANAL), Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Recycling (EUAIAKAG)

Keywords

• EPS insulation products
• XPS construction insulation
• Expanded polystyrene packaging
• Fresh seafood packaging
• Building insulation systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Nordre Vartdal

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices10 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Building Insulation Products: Sale of EPS/XPS insulation plates, wall systems, ring beam elements, roof insulation, and related building products. Products include standard EPS (S60-S300), Neopor (NE60-NE150), XPS (300-700), and complete wall formwork systems for construction.
2. Food Packaging Products: Sale of molded EPS packaging for fresh seafood, including fish boxes (Vartdalkassen), Vartdal AirBox, and related packaging accessories. These products preserve quality during transport of fresh fish from Norwegian fish farms to processing facilities.
3. VARTDAL LOOP Sustainable Products: Premium sustainable product line using recycled or bio-based raw materials. Includes VARTDAL RINGMUR LOOP, VARTDAL VEGGSYSTEM LOOP, VARTDAL BIOPOR insulation plates, VARTDALKASSEN LOOP, and VARTDAL BIOBOKS with lower carbon footprint.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Vartdal Plast manufactures expanded polystyrene (EPS) and extruded polystyrene (XPS) products for two primary business areas: building insulation (EPS/Neopor/XPS boards, wall formwork systems, ring beam elements, roof insulation) and fresh seafood packaging (VARTDALKASSEN fish boxes, AirBox). The company operates 8 wholly-owned factories along the Norwegian coast with an in-house logistics fleet of approximately 80 trucks, and runs EPS recycling facilities under its 100% VARTDAL PLAST program.

Product overview

Vartdal Plast is a Norwegian industrial company specializing in expanded polystyrene (EPS) and extruded polystyrene (XPS) products for two main business areas: construction/building insulation and food/fresh seafood packaging. The product portfolio includes: (1) Building insulation products: EPS insulation boards (Styropor S60-S300 grades), Neopor insulation boards (NE60, NE80, NE150), XPS insulation boards (VARTDAL 300-700), roof insulation systems, R-EPS 100% recycled insulation; (2) Foundation and wall systems: VRS/VRG/VRU ringmurselementer (foundation ring elements), Vartdal Veggsystem 350 and VPX250 wall systems, garage elements, L-elements, pile formwork; (3) Food packaging: VARTDALKASSEN (world's first EPS fish box), VARTDAL AIRBOX; (4) Sustainable products: VARTDAL LOOP circular series including RINGMUR LOOP, VEGGSYSTEM LOOP, VARTDAL BIOPOR insulation, VARTDALKASSEN LOOP; (5) Digital tools: VPkalk calculation tool. The company operates 8 wholly-owned factories along the Norwegian coast and operates EPS recycling facilities (100% VARTDAL PLAST) at Liadal and Biri.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• VARTDAL LOOP: Product series using EPS raw material from alternative sources (recycled plastic or biomass-based raw material) with lower carbon footprint.
• VARTDAL BIOPOR
• VARTDAL RINGMUR LOOP
• VARTDAL VEGGSYSTEM LOOP
• VARTDALKASSEN LOOP
• VARTDAL BIOBOKS
• 100% VARTDAL PLAST
• VPkalk

Products and services

• Vartdal Veggsystem 350
• Vartdal Veggsystem VPX250
• Ringmurselementer VRS
• Ringmurselementer VRG
• Ringmurselementer VRU
• EPS Insulation Boards (S60/S80/S150/S200/S300)
• Neopor Insulation Boards (NE60/NE80/NE150)
• XPS Insulation Boards (VARTDAL 300/400/500/700)
• Roof Insulation (Takisolasjon)
• Garasjeelement (Garage Element)
• L-Element
• Søyleforskaling (Column Formwork)
• VARTDALKASSEN (Fish Box)
• VARTDAL AIRBOX
• VARTDAL LOOP Sustainable Product Series
• VPkalk Calculation Tool

Quantifiable outcome

• EPS fish packaging weighs only ~2% of total weight when transporting fresh Norwegian salmon from fish farms to processing facilities in Europe
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered major acquisition, core partnership and historical partner.

• Glava EPS-virksomhetmajor acquisitionOthers · 17 January 2025Vartdal Plast acquired Glava's EPS business, gaining two new production locations in Spydeberg and Stjørdal. This acquisition strengthens the company's position as a nationwide producer and supplier of insulation products.
• Grønt Punkt Norge AScore partnershipStrategic or Co-development PartnerMembership in Grønt Punkt Norge AS enables the company's products to participate in recycling cycles. Grønt Punkt facilitates product take-back and recycling, supporting the company's circular economy goals.
• BASFhistorical partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerHistorical partnership from 1965 with BASF (raw material supplier) and Erlenbach (machine supplier) to develop the world's first fish box made of expandable polystyrene.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Armacell: Armacell is a global leader in flexible elastomeric foam insulation and engineered foams, serving construction, industrial, and HVAC end markets. While focused on different foam chemistries than Vartdal's EPS, it is a comparable large-scale European foam insulation manufacturer.
• Recticel: Recticel is a Belgian manufacturer of polyurethane-based rigid foam insulation and engineered foams for construction and industrial applications. It competes with Vartdal's foam insulation offerings at the European level, but with a different chemistry (PU vs. EPS/XPS) and a much broader product portfolio.
• Kingspan Group: Kingspan is a global leader in high-performance insulation and building envelopes, with rigid foam board products (including XPS and PIR) that compete with Vartdal's EPS/XPS insulation in the broader European construction market. It operates at vastly greater scale and across many geographies, making it a broad incumbent rather than a direct niche peer.
• BASF (Styropor / Neopor): BASF is the original supplier of EPS raw material (Styropor) and the graphite-enhanced Neopor grade used by Vartdal, and a historical partner since the 1965 fish-box co-development. As a global chemical major with its own EPS downstream activities, BASF is both an upstream supplier and a broad incumbent in the EPS value chain.

Direct peers

• Synthos: Synthos is one of Europe's largest producers of expandable polystyrene (EPS) raw materials and finished EPS products, serving insulation and packaging customers across the EU. It is directly comparable to Vartdal Plast on EPS chemistry and end applications, but at significantly larger pan-European scale.
• Faerch Plast: Faerch Plast is a European leader in rigid plastic food packaging, including CPET, APET, and PP trays for fresh and convenience food. It is directly comparable to Vartdal's molded food packaging business, particularly in serving major food processors and retailers across Europe.
• BEWI: BEWI is a leading Nordic and European producer of EPS, XPS, and insulation products with operations across Norway, Sweden, and the broader EU. It is one of the closest larger-scale competitors to Vartdal Plast in both insulation and food packaging, including Icelandic/Norwegian seafood packaging.
• Jackon: Jackon is a Norwegian manufacturer of EPS and XPS insulation and construction products, directly competing with Vartdal Plast in the same Norwegian building insulation and foundation systems market. Both companies sell ring beam elements, wall systems, and EPS boards to Norwegian builders through similar direct sales channels.
• Glava: Glava is a Norwegian insulation manufacturer whose EPS business was acquired by Vartdal Plast in January 2025. Pre-acquisition, Glava was a direct Norwegian peer in insulation, and the two product lines (now consolidated) competed head-to-head in the Norwegian building materials market.
• Sundolitt: Sundolitt is a Nordic manufacturer of EPS insulation and packaging products with production in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. It directly competes with Vartdal Plast in both building insulation boards and molded EPS packaging, including the Norwegian salmon fish-box market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/vartdalplast
• Facebookfacebook.com/vartdalplast
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vartdal-plast

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Vartdal Plast