Beaulieu International Group (BIG), headquartered in Wielsbeke, Belgium, will highlight geotextile products with sustainable benefits to support progress in resilient civil engineering projects at the 12th International Conference on Geosynthetics (ICG) taking place in Rome from September 18-21 2023.

For manufacturers of nonwoven geotextiles, Beaulieu Fibres International (BFI) offers polypropylene (PP) fibres with a more than 25% carbon footprint reduction compared to the European standard PP fibres, generating 1.48 kg CO2 per kg. A step further is to accelerate the replacement of fossil carbon in engineered fibre applications by choosing the ISCC Plus certified bio-attributed Mono-PP with a negative carbon footprint.

For construction projects, nonwoven geotextiles made with high-tenacity HT8 fibres are proven to provide a longer service lifetime and reduce environmental impact by providing high mechanical performance at a reduced weight.

“Geotextiles provide highly versatile, durable and natural resource-saving alternatives in large infrastructure works, and offer durable protection in erosion control and waste/water management projects,” said Roy Kerckhove, technical textiles sales director. “We are continuously developing our finished engineering textiles with proven sustainability-enhancing benefits, while taking concrete steps to reduce our own environmental footprint.”

The woven geotextiles of Beaulieu Technical Textiles (BTT) provide a wide range of functions, including separation, filtration, reinforcement and erosion control, and are among the most sustainable in the industry. Depending on weight, the carbon footprint of BTT woven geotextiles ranges between 0.37 and 1.40 kg CO2 eq. per square metre. Case studies such as at the Ostend-Bruges airport highlight significant CO2 reduction on the jobsite by replacing the transport of 960 trucks of gravel with three trucks of woven geotextiles and by extending the runway’s life span.

The ICG launch of new Terralys MF woven filtration geotextiles with monofilaments boosts the performance of a common solution in building layers that requires high water flow rates. High-tenacity extruded polypropylene tapes and monofilaments are interwoven to form dimensionally stable and highly permeable geotextiles. These new filtration geotextiles provide greater resistance to dirt and biological clogging. They allow water to travel freely while reducing soil erosion when employed as a separation and stabilising layer.

As of September 2023, all PP staple fibres and woven geotextiles will have Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) based on LCAs. Each EPD is an essential tool for communicating and reporting on sustainability performance and helps carbon-conscious customers in their purchasing and decision making. Registered EPDs are globally recognised, publicly available and free to download through EPD Libraries.

www.beaulieufibres.com