The Future of Nonwovens (FoN) project aims to bring sustainable manufacturing within the nonwoven value chain.
FoN supports the ExpandFibre mission, which includes establishing a Center of Excellence to enhance collaboration between partners within the nonwovens value chain.
Those partners include raw material producers (Fortum, Metsä Spring, Infinited Fiber Company and UPM), a producer of biobased and sustainable bonding chemicals for airlaids and composites (CH-Polymers), a nonwoven fabric producer (Suominen), an airlaid machinery manufacturer (Anpap), and a measurement and automation system supplier for high-quality nonwovens production (Valmet).
The FoN project is also joining the ExpandFibre mission by utilizing various nonwoven production methods, especially airlaid, and new raw materials to expand the property space of sustainable bioproducts to replace less sustainable materials in the future.
The ExpandFibre ecosystem will offer joint channels to disseminate and share the results and outcomes of the FoN project.
The particular tasks for the FoN project include developing airlaid material prototypes from novel fibers and binders, developing bio-based and thermoformable airlaid-reinforced composites, comparing airlaid webs with other nonwoven types and defining property-space; developing spectroscopic methods for on-line characterization; and creating a roadmap for identifying business opportunities for sustainable nonwovens.
The Future of Nonwovens project envisions that by 2030, over 50% of synthetic textile fibers in nonwovens will be replaced with sustainable bio-based, biodegradable, and recycled materials in Europe and the USA.
Therefore, as the production technology, FoN aims to transform the raw material base, exploring airlaying, a water-scarce nonwovens manufacturing method.
