"Investing in quality is committing to durable products with guaranteed longevity." The team at Beaulieu Technical Textiles, rolled up their sleeves and actually got to work. Market consultations brought advice and action, the team committed to cooperation and bringing the power of knowledge and experience together.
The result was a new launch of the weed control ground cover RECOVER. The cherry on the cake was a celebratory photo shoot with the entire team. "Let's face it, if the whole team is so proud that they love posing on the ground cover, surely the plants can't help but shine on that same ground cloth too."
According to Beaulieu Technical Textiles, ground covers, that are used for at least 10 years to control weed growth, are exposed to UV rays and temperature fluctuations that can cause instability and shrinkage, as well as repeated heavy mechanical stresses.
Meet the team and find out how they managed to use their know-how and craftsmanship.
The scientists: Bet & Marie
Marie: "A very important challenge during this development was the complexity to translate the market needs into technical properties. By thinking out of the box we managed to create new tests to simulate the behavior of our fabric on the fields and set new standards."
Bet: "During the development of Recover, we also found it challenging to link every layer inside our company to each other. But we did it, and managed to connect production, sales, marketing and development to each other and become stronger together."
Bet & Marie
The production artists: Laurent & David
Laurent: "The main challenge for us when developing Recover was in the collection and processing of our post-industrial waste. We always need to be careful with the collection of waste and avoid contamination in order to keep the purity of our raw material. The second challenge was to optimize the recycling process to get the highest possible quality of PP, which can be reused in our extrusion lines."
David: "To offer a perfect solution to the market, to reach the perfect balance between all specifications, we needed to study the manufacturing process. Therefore, we have developed a new program on our looms. The specific Recover weaving pattern is a result of this optimized production process."
Laurent & David
The circular wizards: Audrey & Duchan
Audrey: "The past years, we wanted to shift from pure virgin-based materials to tapes containing at least 40% recycled polypropylene. To achieve this, challenges regarding product dimensions and process variances had to be overcome."
Duchan: "We are now very proud to say we were able to develop an equally performing end-product compared to its virgin counterpart. The days when products containing recycled content were considered inferior are far behind us. We are happy contributing further to this part of the circular puzzle."
Audrey & Duchan
The market developers: Maarten & Gerlinde
Maarten: "We listened to our stakeholders, to the people who sell, install and use our fabrics. We learned there is a need for a strong, long-lasting groundcover, with clear benefits for use on the fields and at the same time as sustainable as possible."
Gerlinde: "Together with our engineers, we took on the challenge to meet those market needs with one solution: a woven groundcover which is built to last. This resulted in RECOVER: a long-lasting woven groundcover, strong and sustainable, offering up to 35% CO2 reduction, easy to install, built to last."
Maarten & Gerlinde
For more information:
Beaulieu Technical Textiles
Boulevard Industrial 3
Comines-Warneton, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)56 56 06 70
Email: [email protected]
www.beaulieutechnicaltextiles.com