A technological innovation capable of producing up to 10 thousand face masks per minute, which can be adapted to all main “non-woven” materials, including a particular bamboo-based material that can be disposed of with other organic waste. This is the patent filed by Fabio Perini, a Lucca based company which is part of the Körber Tissue Business Area. The technology, which developed in just over a month during the lockdown, can be quickly added to the company’s converting machines, new and/or already installed with customers all over the world.
Oswaldo Cruz Jr., CEO of Fabio Perini S.p.A. and the Körber Tissue Business Area, has this to say about the technology: “Opportunities for innovation are everywhere, even in the midst of a health crisis, and during the lockdown, our team got to work to respond to two needs: on the one hand, the huge demand for face masks – the Polytechnic University of Turin, for example, estimates that Italian companies alone will need almost 1 billion a month -; on the other, the issue of their disposal. In just over a month, from ideation to production, we arrived at the solution: a technological update that would allow the production of up to 10,000 masks (in rolls) per minute and the use of a bamboo-based non-woven fabric that is biodegradable and can be disposed of with other compostable waste”.
These single-layer masks are very useful for daily, collective, and community use in places such as airports, public transportation, shopping malls, supermarkets, groceries, and of course in our workplaces. “The solution makes our machines also capable of manufacturing certified masks; however, pairing these materials with plastic would make the masks non-biodegradable. Nevertheless, together with different raw materials suppliers in the industry, we are testing specific material solutions and we are confident of finding a solution soon” continues O. Cruz.
