{"id":159166,"date":"2025-03-06T07:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T06:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=159166"},"modified":"2025-03-01T11:22:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T10:22:36","slug":"pioneering-bio-based-raw-materials-in-press-felts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/pioneering-bio-based-raw-materials-in-press-felts\/","title":{"rendered":"Pioneering bio-based raw materials in press felts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\"\"
\u00a9 Valmet<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Developing a more sustainable press felt hasn\u2019t been an easy cruise in the fast lane. On the contrary \u2013 it\u2019s been a long journey. Indeed, introducing Valmet Press Felt EMX M Bioneer is just the first step.\u202f<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cValmet\u2019s Fabrics business unit released its sustainability action plan in 2021, and we\u2019ve since been working to reduce our products\u2019 climate impact. In addition to improving material efficiency and developing recycling practices for used paper machine clothing, we\u2019ve spent hundreds of hours searching for the possibilities to use bio-based or recycled materials in our production. Introducing the first press felt with a lower carbon footprint is an excellent outcome of that work, and I\u2019m really proud of our team\u2019s achievement,\u201d says Katriina Markkula, R&D Manager at Valmet.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What is Valmet Press Felt EMX M Bioneer?\u202f<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to quality, Valmet Press Felt EMX M Bioneer is exactly the same as its predecessor, Valmet Press Felt EMX M, a stable press felt with good water handling capacity and a long lifetime \u2013 but with a smaller carbon footprint. How is this possible?\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Valmet Press Felt EMX M Bioneer, part of the fossil-based raw material is replaced with a bio-based alternative using a \u201cmass balance\u201d approach.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cIn practice, raw materials like forestry residuals and used cooking oil are broken down into monomers (basic organic chemicals), which have identical characteristics to fossil monomers. When these are processed into polymers and further to yarns and fibers, their characteristics remain the same \u2013 meaning it\u2019s impossible to distinguish between bio-based and fossil-based materials in the end product,\u201d explains Satu Hagfors, R&D Project Manager at Valmet.\u202f<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The mass balance approach relies on accurate bookkeeping, and the entire supply chain needs to be certified to ensure that there are no omissions at any stage. Valmet\u2019s press felt production in Tampere, Finland, is certified with the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tested for high and consistent quality<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Although it is known that partially bio-based yarns\u2019 characteristics are identical to those of traditional yarns made from fossil oil, comprehensive testing has been run, just as with any other product development project.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Katriina
Katriina Markkula, R&D Manager, Valmet, and Leena Silakoski, Senior Manager, Press Felts and Belts, Valmet, say that developing more sustainable products is a long journey that needs to be travelled step by step. \u00a9 Valmet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u201cThe test results show that the quality of this yarn is exactly as good as that of our traditional yarn. We\u2019ve also manufactured some trial felts, and there were no deviations in the production process. Customer trials in paper machines show that press felts made with this yarn perform just as well as those made with traditional yarn. So, knowing that the performance is as good as before but with a reduced carbon footprint, I would say that Valmet Press Felt EMX M Bioneer is great,\u201d says Kati Mikkonen, Senior R&D Engineer, and the Project Manager for the Bioneer project at Valmet.\u202f<\/strong> \u202f<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Press felts are exposed to extreme conditions in pulp, board, paper, and tissue production, and our first priority is to offer high-performing products with a long lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe mass balance approach enables the use of bio-based raw materials without compromising product quality, and we\u2019re looking forward to improving our customers\u2019 climate performance with our products \u2013 starting with Valmet Press Felt EMX M Bioneer,\u201d says Leena Silakoski, Senior Manager, Press felts and Belts at Valmet.\u202f<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“To start with, Valmet Press Felt EMX M Bioneer will be manufactured using 10 percent bio-based materials. In the future, the share of bio-based materials can be increased up to 100 percent depending on the customer interest.” Kati Mikkonen, Senior R&D Engineer, Valmet<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Developing a more sustainable press felt hasn\u2019t been an easy cruise in the fast lane. On the contrary \u2013 it\u2019s been a long journey. Indeed, introducing Valmet Press Felt EMX M Bioneer is just the first step.\u202f \u201cValmet\u2019s Fabrics business unit released its sustainability action plan in 2021, and we\u2019ve since been working to reduce […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":159194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Valmet is determined to lower the carbon footprint of their paper machine clothing. As a result of intensive work, Valmet has launched the first press felt containing bio-based raw materials","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[5838,10416,6268,16928,23935,14297,19270],"supplier":[3532,7450],"class_list":["post-159166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bioeconomy","tag-circulareconomy","tag-forestry","tag-massbalance","tag-residuals","tag-textile","tag-yarn","supplier-international-sustainability-carbon-certification-iscc","supplier-valmet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159166"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=159166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}