Yarn & Fiber
RadiciGroup reorients its know-how to a new production line for sustainable personal protective equipment
At the A+A 2021 International Trade Fair, RadiciGroup showcases its latest high-resistance, lightweight sustainable solutions: a new line of products created as a result of the pandemic experience
These products are part of a new line, Radipeople, a trade name identifying the new protective workwear sold by RadiciGroup: end products of a traceable supply chain, in which special attention is paid to the choice of raw materials and the quality of the final products offered the market.
At RadiciGroup, care for the health and safety of people is one of the pillars of the Group's sustainability strategy, combined with a strong commitment to safeguarding the environment. Radipeople Eco, the first protective coverall with 100% end-of-life recyclability is proof of such commitment. All parts of Radipeople Eco: the fabric, lamination, zipper and thread are made of the same material, 100% polypropylene.
Furthermore, the Group’s offering includes garments made with Respunsible®, a spundbond obtained from recycled polypropylene or materials certified under the ISCC Plus scheme.
“RadiciGroup’s commitment in the area of personal protective equipment began in March 2020 at the height of the pandemic crisis in Bergamo, Italy, where we are based,” Maurizio Radici, vice president of RadiciGroup, said. “We set out to use our dylar® spunbond as the main component for the manufacture of protective gowns for medical personnel. Starting from scratch, in record time we managed to set up a chain of local manufacturers to produce the gowns. Today, with our extensive experience in the field of nonwovens supported by our well-established knowledge of material chemistry, we are ready to reorient and convert our know-how to the production of protective garments suitable for use in many industrial environments.” ”Furthermore,” Mr. Radici continued. “at the end of 2020, our Group invested EUR 15 million in the purchase of a new line for the production of meltblown, a type of nonwoven not available on the Italian market. This material is an intermediate product in the production of protective face masks and other types of PPE, and also an excellent material for liquid and air filtration applications.”
Thanks to their versatility and technical characteristics, the nonwoven solutions proposed by RadiciGroup are suitable for many industrial sectors, including oil and gas, utilities, construction, food, automotive painting and shipbuilding, maintenance, agriculture, laboratories, microprocessor manufacturing and the pharmaceutical and chemical industries.
Radipeople personal protective equipment delivers excellent protection against external agents (liquids, splashes, jets, particles and sprays), high protection against biological hazards and infectious agents, and high robustness and lightness to optimize protection, on the one hand, and comfort, on the other. All Radipeople protective equipment is made of fully traceable materials, manufactured by a totally Italian production chain involving hundreds of workers, and sold in packaging designed with an ecodesign approach, that is, fully recyclable minimized packaging.
This new project demonstrates RadiciGroup’s capability to meet new challenges and take advantage of the new opportunities that the current socio-economic context presents. In a little over a year, the Group has defined a significant investment plan and a new portfolio of solutions, while, at the same time, identifying new markets for expansion. The new endeavour is also proof of the resilience of RadiciGroup, which in a difficult moment like the pandemic emergency has been able to widen its product range by adding meltblown spunbond and expand into personal protective equipment, thus creating a supply chain directed at meeting specific social needs.