Italian polyamide and fibre producer Radici (Bergamo; www.radicigroup.com) has invested EUR 15m in a new production line for meltblown nonwovens. The new line is being set up at Tessiture Pietro Radici, one of the group’s companies based in Bergamo near Milan, and is expected to be completed in January 2021, after which the line will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The line is capable of making products with special technical characteristics, not only made of polypropylene, but also other polymers such as polyester, polyamide and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU).

Meltblown nonwovens are used to manufacture protective face masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE). Meltblown fabric is a continuous filament nonwoven (from 1 to 5 microns in diameter), and has good filtering capability for particles of microscopic size, such as viruses. The objective of the new line, according to Radici, is to reduce dependence on imports from non-European countries. From February to August 2020, Italy imported EUR 2.66 bn worth of masks, 92% of which reportedly were from China. During the first wave of the coronavirus in Europe, industry players scaled up mask and shield production “overnight” because of similar reasons (see Plasteurope.com of 29.05.2020).

Enrico Buriani, CEO of Tessiture Pietro Radici, said, “In terms of production capacity, the new line will be able to produce about 120 t/month of meltblown nonwoven, or enough material to make about 170m surgical masks per month.”