EcosatX - Innovativt produkt for eksteriør- og CPL-laminat basert på resirkulerte råvarer

Laminate is a sturdy and durable building material with a wide range of applications. Although most people do not notice it, laminates are present in everything from furniture, kitchen décor, floors, wardrobes in the fitness center, building facades, conference halls, airports - in short, it surrounds us in most parts of everyday life. In Norway, wood is the preferred building material, but in Europe the use of laminate is more widespread. Paper is one of the most important components of the laminate and requires special characteristics compared to paper qualities such as copy paper and magazine paper. The paper is impregnated before being pressed together in several layers under high pressure and temperature, to eventually achieve the right properties. There are limitless opportunities in design, postforming and other special features. The paper used in laminates usually origins from virgin fiber. Ranheim Paper & Board AS has developed a method of utilizing 100% recycled fiber for this application. This is a milestone in upgrading recycled fiber to high-quality products – an important contribution to a sustainable circular economy that will form the foundation for our future. Our product has been given the brand name Ecosat. There are high technical requirements for laminate, and Ecosat currently fulfil the requirements for indoor use. However, there remains two important production methods and applications for which Ecosat is still not suitable. These are Continuous Pressure Laminate (CPL) and laminate for outdoor building facades (Exterior), which are additionally regulated by strict fire safety requirements. These are the products which reaches the highest price levels and increased margins. The objective of the EcosatX project isto understand and develop our Ecosat product to meet the requirements needed for CPL and Exterior.

Ranheim Paper & Board AS produserer i dag et fungerende laminatpapir til interiørlaminat, Ecosat, bestående av 100 % gjenvunnet papir. Laminatpapiret som Ranheim produserer i dag oppfyller ikke de svært strenge kvalitetskravene som stilles til laminatpapir for eksteriørlaminater - Enkelte eksteriørlaminater, f.eks. fasadeplater, skal ha en levetid på flere tiår. Laminatpapiret for eksteriørlaminater som finnes på markedet i dag er produsert nesten utelukkende fra kjemiske massefibre med en produksjonsprosess som er betydelig mer ressurskrevende enn det Ranheim Paper & Boards produksjonsprosess basert på resirkulerte fibre er. Med EcosatX-prosjektet ønsker Ranheim Paper & Board å utvide sin produktportefølje slik at de også kan produsere et laminatpapir basert på gjenvunnet papir som egner seg til eksteriørlaminatprodukter og CPL. Et vellykket prosjekt vil gjøre Ranheim Paper & Board til den eneste leverandøren i verden av laminatpapir for eksteriørlaminat basert på gjenvunnet papir.