Exploring new applications for cellulose-based renewable raw material in Louveira, Brazil
Ahlstrom-Munksjö is firmly committed to sustainability and has integrated sustainable practices throughout its value chain. Being part of a resource-intensive industry, we have a particular responsibility to improve our environmental performance throughout our operations and supply chains. With our product offering we strive to facilitate a more sustainable everyday life by providing solutions that have better performance and safer materials, use fewer resources and have a lower environmental impact than alternative options. At Ahlstrom-Munksjö we like to talk about smart solutions from fibers.
Our plant in Louveira, Brazil manufactures high performance filter media for the transportation industry, supporting car and truck manufacturers and operators to meet more and more stringent emission regulations and reduce the overall environmental impact of their activities.
“As a leading player in this field, the team is constantly looking for ways to improve our product offering. Ideally, we improve performance of our products while generating sustainability benefits, and in this regard, we can be very proud of the work the team is doing locally in Brazil,” says Tamara Quatrano, Vice President, Product Development, Filtration business.
“Last year, we initiated a R&D project to introduce powder lignin into our formation”, says Marcelo Polozzi, Product Development Manager in Louveira. “Lignin is an abundant and renewable polymer source, directly derived from cellulose. As we started to look into this material in a more detail to understand if and how we could use lignin, we quickly realized that we had something quite interesting on our hands. Lignin could both increase the share of biobased raw material in our recipes but also deliver quite interesting technical features, such as a further reduction of formaldehyde content in our products,” he added.
“Based on very promising results, we have taken this idea to the next level by installing new equipment at the Louveira plant in the coming months. With new technology we will be able to test the introduction of cellulose lignin in our formulation at an industrial scale”, says Marcelo Pinton, plant Manager at Louveira. “This investment will give us the possibility to continue to improve the sustainability credentials of our operations and product offering. I trust I speak for all employees that we’re happy to be continuously improving our ways of working towards a more sustainable future for us all,” he adds.
Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s Filtration business develops and produces high performance filtration materials for engine oils, fuels and in, as well as industrial air, used in vehicles or for industrial purposes. The Filtration business also has applications and is further developing filtration solutions for hybrid and fully electric vehicles. In transportation applications, sales come primarily from the aftermarket. Filtration materials are produced from natural or synthetic fibers or combining different fibers and chemistry. The business operates globally.