Collaborative product development & sustainable long-term partnerships

• Up & running: pilot line & new fibre line in Italy, BICO capacity for industrial fibres in Belgium
• Introducing new Meraspring for soft cushioned hygiene nonwovens
• Extended fibre range for filtration applications

Wielsbeke, Belgium – February 26th, 2020 – Beaulieu Fibres International, the leading European polyolefin and BICO fibre supplier, will announce at INDEX™20 completion of its pilot line in Terni, Italy, the start-up of the state-of-the-art multifunctional production line in Terni, and the new BICO line in Belgium. The company invites the Nonwoven sectors to join efforts in accelerating the development of innovative and sustainable solutions for a rapidly changing global market.

“We are delighted to launch our new pilot line, extending our capabilities as a reliable partner for product development,” comments Maria Teresa Tomaselli, General Manager at Beaulieu Fibres International. “It will enable us to support each customer in reducing the time-to-market of new products, clustering their requirements in new fibre solutions that can be thoroughly tested to ensure they will hit the mark in answering their end-market needs and challenges before any production is upscaled.”

In addition to speeding up developments and future production efficiency, the pilot line offers customers the chance to minimize the need for sampling on our production lines. It also opens up opportunities for them to collaborate early on with customers across the value chain to explore novel concepts or particular end-product benefits.

New products are also on their way to show. For nonwoven converters serving the hygiene segment, Beaulieu Fibres International will unveil Meraspring to the European market. The BICO-fibres are made with polyethylene (PE) in the sheath and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in the core, and are the latest addition to the hygiene portfolio. 

With the trend for comfort in hygiene, Meraspring enables nonwovens to combine softness and loftiness that provides a cushioned and even a “well-being” experience for end-users of applications such as diapers and fem-pads. The fibres are available in a range from 1.7-8.9 dtex with hydrophilic, hydrophobic and wellbeing finishes depending on the properties required in the final product. To improve opacity TiO2 can be added. This gives a cotton-like appearance to the nonwoven.

Our specialty fibres are the BICO-Trilobal versions, named Meralux®. Thanks to their trilobal shape Meralux fibres provide superior opacities compared to nonwoven made with BICO-round full-dull fibres, allowing basis weight reductions without losing coverage in the nonwoven. Therefore it is the ideal fibre for topsheets. Used as ADL it improves the liquid performance as the surface area is bigger than in a round fibre. The resilience levels compared to a round fibre are also higher, which is related to its shape. 

The fast-growing filtration market will also get high profile in this year’s INDEX showcase, as Beaulieu Fibres International presents a whole new range of MONO and BICO fibres which comply with global food contact standards – a one-stop-shop offering for the filtration industry. Additionally, a new range of dry PP fibres for use in electret filtration applications will also be promoted. 

All eyes will be on UltraBond, entering the filtration market, as the fibre enables production of a 100% PP self-supporting pleatable filtration media with excellent filtration performance and which can be made fully recyclable. UltraBond is amongst the innovations shortlisted by EDANA for the INDEX™20 awards. A technical presentation and nonwoven samples will be available at Stand 1340.

To explore these products and more for a wide range of sectors, visit Beaulieu Fibres International at INDEX™20 Stand 1340 at the Geneva Palexpo from 20th to 23rd October 2020.