Autoneum, a Swiss automotive supplier, has announced that its carpets have become more environmental friendly by replacing the latex commonly used in standard backcoatings with thermoplastic material, which also improved the recyclability of carpets. In addition, the innovative manufacturing process greatly reduces water and energy consumption, and CO2 emissions.

 

“Lightweight, textile-based carpet technologies such as Di-Light or Relive-1 significantly improve the environmental performance of carpets. For example, Di-Light-based carpets consist of up to 97 per cent recycled PET; aside from that, they are around 20 per cent lighter than conventional needlepunch carpets, thus contributing to lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from vehicles,” the company said in a press release.

 

Furthermore, since the fibres of the thermoplastic mono-material are easier to open, carpet cut-outs can be reclaimed more easily, thereby reducing the consumption of natural resources as well as waste volumes and thus CO2 emissions, the vehicle acoustic manufacturer added. The environmental performance of Autoneum’s needlepunch carpets, which already contain a high proportion of recycled PET, is thus further improved.

 

“Moreover, backcoatings without latex improve the sustainability of carpets not only thanks to better recyclability at the end of the product life cycle. Since the application of the thermoplastic adhesive using the innovative ABC process consumes significantly less energy than the production of latex-based backcoatings and does not require any water at all, the environmental impact can already be minimised in the manufacturing process,” Autoneum said in the statement. 

 

Additionally, thermoplastic adhesives developed in-house by Autoneum will open up new possibilities in the future for adapting backcoatings to the individual needs of vehicle manufacturers in terms of their acoustic performance, stiffness and abrasion resistance.

 

Models from various customers in Europe and North America are already equipped with latex-free needlepunch carpets from Autoneum. In the near future, the company will also use backcoatings with thermoplastic adhesives for its tufted carpets.