Fibres are randomly distributed in nonwovens and bound chemically, mechanically or thermally, which makes their production process faster and simpler than those of traditional woven and knitted fabrics.
Many nonwovens are single-use products that are disposed of after use and may end up in the environment. It is important to get a holistic understanding of sustainability issues in the nonwoven industry. Senior Lecturer Virpi R m from the leading partner TAMK says there is a need for more public research to increase the use of biobased and recycled materials.
SUSTAFIT will support the global industrial and societal goals of replacing unsustainable processes and petroleum-based materials with more environmentally friendly solutions.
The project aims to add knowledge and boost businesses.
The goal is to improve the raw-material base, processing pathways, circularity, and business approach, and to address the sustainability of nonwovens from different perspectives.
The goal is to increase the share of sustainable nonwovens and possibly identify new sustainable nonwoven application areas R m outlines.
The project intends to support stakeholders in the value chain to develop sustainable nonwovens, their raw materials and production technologies.
The industry partners are helping the project go in the right direction. UPM, Fortum, SharpCell, Kemira, Fiber-X, Spinnova, Lixea, Valmet, Nordic Bioproducts Group, Rester, Sulzer, Anpap, NordShield, Lounais-Suomen J tehuolto, Paptic, JedX Medcare and Mirka are participating in the project.
R m highlights that it is essential for the industry to learn about segment-wise sustainability strategies for nonwovens and the relation of raw materials, processing, and products in order to make justified decisions for their future sustainable businesses. Consumers can make conscious and sustainable choices with the help of the new information.
In order to support the industry concretely, the SUSTAFIT project will develop water-repellent and bio-based nonwovens. For the moment, insufficient hydrophobicity and antimicrobial performance are two major constraints on nonwovens made of man-made cellulose fibres.
TAMK, the SUSTAFIT project coordinator, leads the research on sustainable business models and value chains for nonwovens. The organisation will study the raw material and end-of-life options of sustainable nonwovens.
VTT will study the segment-wise sustainability strategies and demonstrate the production of different types of nonwoven webs. VTT will create novel concepts and structures to improve their performance.
Aalto University will bring its expertise in producing man-made cellulose fibres MMCFs from different raw materials, adding functional properties to fibres and nonwovens, recycling functionalized textiles into new MMCFs and exploiting the results.
Business Finland, research organisations and industry partners will be funding the project for two years starting October 2022.