Amazon Filters has become the first industrial filter maker in the UK to use polypropylene manufactured from renewable resources in production of its meltblown filter media.
Effectively lowering the carbon footprint of each filter, the Surrey-based manufacturer has launched sustainable polypropylene versions of its flagship ranges SupaSpun II, SupaGard, Contour and VisClear II.
These are widely used in critical liquid filtration processes in key industries such as municipal water, oil and gas, food and beverage, chemicals and coatings, and pharmaceuticals.
Traditionally, monomers sourced from fossil fuels have been the base media feeding into the polymers involved in polypropylene manufacturing.
But now, under a ‘mass balance approach’ developed by Vienna-headquartered Borealis, a world leader in polymer development and manufacture, a proportion of the fossil-derived propane can be replaced by an identical volume of sustainable monomers that are tested to ensure the same level of quality.
Amazon Filters’ product variations involve Borealis’ Bornewables polymers made from sustainably sourced renewable feedstocks.
They are derived solely from waste and excess vegetable oils such as used cooking oil and residues from vegetable oil processing.
Describing the process, Amazon Filters Managing Director Neil Pizzey said raw waste vegetable oil collected from restaurants and the food industry is used to make the monomers that feed into the polypropylene manufacturing process in the same way as monomers sourced from fossil fuels.
“The bio-propane produced as the starter for the propylene and polypropylene production is exactly the same specification as the propane derived from conventional fossil-based feedstocks,” Neil explained. “Tests, including gas chromatography and differential scanning calorimetry, conducted on the bio-propylene monomer confirm the absence of any impurities in the sustainable material and so guarantee the equivalent standard.”
Borealis’ Bornewables manufacture is certified under ISCC PLUS, the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification system for supply chains.
This confirms that the feedstock is sustainable and traceable to its point of origin.
The certification provides an independent and globally recognised assurance that there is a credible reduction of carbon footprint.
A life cycle assessment study in accordance with the ISO 14040 and 14044:2006 standards has also been conducted to verify carbon reductions.
Amazon Filters boosts product sustainability with polymer move
