Ahlstrom’s specialty glassfiber reinforcements are used mainly in windmill blades, marine applications and transportation vehicles. We produce glassfibers in Karhula, Finland. In manufacturing, we focus on the reduction of energy consumption. In accordance with tight environmental legislation, the emissions are minimized.
Responsibly sourced
The main raw materials for the principal components in glass are derived from Finnish sand (silica quartz), English china clay and limestone from Gotland, Sweden. We have been assured by the suppliers’ responsibility credentials.
Sand, kaolin and limestone with some additional minerals are melted at extremely high temperature to form continuous glass fiber filaments, which are made into rovings. They are then sent to Mikkeli, Finland where the product is converted into the specialty reinforcements of various designs.
More ecological transportation end uses
Recently, the diameter of a wind turbine rotor as well as its height and installed capacity have grown remarkably.
“Ahlstrom is responding to the requirements for stronger materials by designing glassfiber reinforcements with higher stiffness and tensile strength as well as better fatigue properties”, says Heidi Fagerholm, responsible for innovations in the Glass and Industrial Nonwovens business area at Ahlstrom.
The expected lifetime of a windmill park is 25–40 years. Disposal of the blade composites after their useful life is to grind them and reuse e.g. as raw material for cement.
Fagerholm continues about the merits of the lightweight structures with glassfiber reinforcements in applications such as trucks and trailers. Compared to competing materials they enable a reduction in CO2 emissions as a result of a lower fuel demand.
“The lowest demand for fuel and thus greenhouse gas emissions are however in sail boats,” concludes Fagerholm, an avid sailor herself. Marine applications are an important end use segment for Ahlstrom’s glassfiber reinforcements.
Redefining nonwoven fabrics
Ahlstrom has worked with an innovative Finnish design company Globe Hope to use leftover nonwoven fabrics to make handy shopping bags. The material for the bags – process waste and second quality material – is collected from our Finnish sites in Tampere and Karhula. These promotional materials were handed out to customers at Heimtextil, and another design was used for Ahlstrom’s Annual General Meeting.
Globe Hope uses recycled materials turning them into uniquely designed clothes and accessories. All Globe Hope production vows to uphold sustainable development, and a part of Globe Hope's mission is to offer people an ecological and sustainable choice.
As Glope Hope is one example of ingenuity we believe that, by using creativity, there are many more ways to utilize nonwoven waste materials for various similar ecological products in all parts of the world.