Spain to produce enough ultra-filtration 'Meltblown' fabric for 1.5 billion masks a year

PRODUCTION of a completely virus-proof fabric has started in Spain and the company behind it aims to create enough to manufacture 1.5 billion masks per year.

'Meltblown' is the only material suitable for making a top layer with nearly 100% filtration ability for FFP2 and FFP3 masks, the type worn by the health service.

Made up of nanofibres, 'Meltblown' has a bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE) and particle filtration efficiency (PFE) of over 99% for particles of less than 0.3 micrometres in size.

Branded nationally as 'Neolite', the company Nonwovens Ibérica says it will mean Spain's high-performance anti-Covid mask production becomes entirely self-sufficient – the complete supply chain will be home-grown.

Nonwoven Ibérica is the only firm in Spain and one of the few in Europe equipped with a leading German-made Reifenhäuser Reicofil 3.2-metre production machine (shown in the above picture, taken by Nonwoven), among the most efficient on earth, and which has been installed over the last four months ready for mass production of the 'Meltblown' fabric.

Although available to the general public, FFP2 and FFP3 masks are not considered 'necessary' by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for anyone other than healthcare workers or people constantly exposed to a high viral load – but for these wearers, their effectiveness level can literally mean life or death, protecting themselves and also those they come into contact with.

“Spain's industrial network needs to respond to the evident needs the pandemic has left us with,” says Alberto Miralles, co-director of Nonwoven Ibérica and head of the Neolite Division.

“We cannot allow ourselves the luxury of going back to a time when we had a widespread drought of basic healthcare products.

“Nonwovens Ibérica is now focusing on its new Neolite Division in order to supply the whole country, and elsewhere in the world, with a fabric which is of primary necessity and comes with total guarantees.”

The firm, based in Muro d'Alcoi, Alicante province, has been trading for 50 years and has over 65% employees – in fact, having increased its staff team by 30% in recent weeks, is in one of the few sectors which has been offering additional jobs since the start of the pandemic rather than being forced to lay workers off temporarily.

National and international companies are among Nonwoven's clients, whom it supplies with fabrics for industrial and domestic cleaning – its most-produced material being dishcloths or towelling cloths for wiping surfaces – and it churns out around 4,200 tonnes of fabric a year.