Leading innovators in nonwovens

The Italian company ALBIS International Srl is a leading developer of nonwoven technologies for cleaning and sanitary products. Industry Europe looks at its continued dedication to innovation and plans for future growth.

ALBIS was founded by Mr Gianni Boscolo in 1995, at which time it relied upon a single production technology. Since then the company has constantly developed its production processes in the areas of nonwovens and fibre spinning. Its dedication to investing in the latest technologies has led to the introduction of many innovative solutions over the years.

Business manager Massimo Cassani begins: “Our goal is to identify potential problems and suggest solutions to solve them. We are focused on the supply of nonwovens to the hygiene and personal care markets, ranging from nappies to cosmetic wipes for make-up removal.

“We are able to provide our customers with an even broader range of manufacturing technologies and production flexibility,” adds Alberto Guardia, another of the company’s business managers. “This means we can satisfy customer demands efficiently. Now we can serve many business areas, including medical, agriculture, household, packaging and filtration.”

Acquisition Distribution Layer

ALBIS offers a wide range of carded nonwovens made from different types of PET fibres. They mainly serve as Acquisition-Distribution Layers (ADL) for all types of baby and adult incontinence pads as well as in sanitary napkins. Generally, superabsorbent polymers need to have two different functions: the ability to absorb an abundance of liquid (higher absorption capacity); and the ability to retain absorbed liquid under load (higher absorption capacity).

In 1995 the company started its long-term partnership with P&G. With its two different web bonding processes, namely Resinbonded and Airthrough bonded, ALBIS has developed two main classes of products: Curadis RB and Curadis ATB. The carded hydrophilic nonwoven Curadis ATB is made from a blend of regular and of bicomponent fibres that are bonded using the airthrough bonded process (ATB). This nonwoven is available in regular pancake or in spooled rolls. The Curadis RB is a carded resin bonded hydrophilic non-

woven made of PES fibres, bonded with an emulsion of SBR resins. It also offers excellent capillarity performance.

Innovation department

In the nonwovens industry, innovation and technology are the key factors. Consumers always need additional comfort and safety and now more than ever are asking for increased levels of sustainability in nonwoven products – especially when it comes to disposable products like wipes. Sustainability today is very much like flushability was several years ago. Indeed, the ALBIS internal R&D department is working on developing a new range of solutions to be added to the more than 10 innovative products it has already patented. The last of these represents a first for the nonwovens market: the Curacell® .

Nonwovens without water?

Curacell® is a nonwoven manufactured using a patented technology. What makes the production process peculiar is that no water is used. The unique structure of Curacell® (which is made from a mixture of PP spunbond filaments, pulp and other polymers) ensures a totally lint-free surface. The result is a multi-layer absorbent web, ideal not only for all kinds of wipes – both wet and dry – but even for any type of substrate in which the absorption of liquids is required: in consequence, the traditional cleaning market has also found a solution for household or industrial applications.

Thanks to its dry process, Curacell® eliminates the risk of contamination from mould, fungi and bacteria. This solution doesn’t require the use of chemicals, either for the cleaning of process water or to keep the plant safe and clean. Consequently, it doesn’t generate any ‘special waste’ to be disposed of.

Of course, such an innovative solution doesn’t affect the performance characteristics of the product, but it certainly helps to reduce the environmental impact. When compared to standard products, Curacell® uses fewer raw materials from non-renewable sources. In the future Albis will optimise this product still further with the result that the spunbond will be made entirely from PLA. All wipes in this range will then be 100 per cent compostable.

Specialties

Albis has also developed a class of spunbond materials to meet the growing demand for nonwovens with special performance characteristics: a super-soft and structured permanent hydrophilic spunbond nonwoven. The fine denier of the PP filaments, together with the special embossing process used, gives the material a pleasant ‘silky’ touch.

Looking ahead

“We fully believe in the revolution of Curacell® , which represents the future in this area,” conclude Cassani and Guardia. “Over the past few years we have reinforced our commitment to R&D and we will continue to focus our efforts on developing innovative solutions. Albis has a well-established presence in Italy, Europe, and North Africa too. Our goal for next few years is to expand into the US market.” n