Freudenberg Nonwovens inaugurated a new regranulation unit at its Kaiserslautern plant on 7^th May, which will allow materials rejected from its production process to be reused right down to the very last fibre. The cost of the new unit was in excess of €700,000.

“At Kaiserslautern, we have been recycling rejected materials such as start-up material and edge strips for many years. Nevertheless, the new unit inaugurated today represents a quantum leap in our everyday work. This unit will allow us to further improve the quality of our products and to offer our customers even better solutions,” Steffen Reuther, production manager at the plant explained. “The overall investment process was very fast. We only needed four weeks to install the unit, which is the size of a 3 to 4-room flat.”

In the new unit, rejected material from production is melted, cooled and then chopped up into small pieces to form a granulate. The chips produced are returned to the manufacturing process and used to produce nonwovens. “This production loop allows us to use raw materials more effectively. It also makes a contribution to environmental protection,” Reuther said. “Especially in view of the increasing scarcity of natural resources such as oil, on which our raw materials are based, the recycling of rejected materials is extremely important.”

At the Kaiserslautern plant, the Freudenberg Nonwovens Business Group produces spunlaid nonwovens for the construction, hygiene products and carpet industries as well as applications in horticulture. The Kaiserslautern plant was established in 1970. Apart from Freudenberg Nonwovens, the two business groups Freudenberg Filtration Technologies and Helix Medical are also active at this location and at December 31, 2012, Freudenberg employed 561 associates in Kaiserslautern.

The Freudenberg Group is a family company offering its customers technically challenging product solutions and services. The group develops and manufactures seals, vibration control components, filters, nonwovens, products for surface treatment, release agents and specialty lubricants, medical and mechatronic products.

For mid-size companies Freudenberg also develops software solutions and IT services. The end-user can find modern Freudenberg household products in the shops under the brand names of vileda, O-Cedar, Wettex, Gala and SWASH. The Freudenberg Group employed 37,453 people in 57 countries and generated sales of more than €6.3 billion in 2012.

www.freudenberg.de