GEHR, which primarily produces thermoplastic semi-finished products, has announced a new wood filament made from a sustainable 3D printing material developed by Finnish company Sulapac.
Eco-fil-a-GEHR wood filaments are from Sulapac's Flow series of materials. It is made from recycled wood fibers mixed with biodegradable biopolymers. It is said to produce light-weight parts with good dimensional stability and good elasticity, and has a natural look and feel. It is also said to have a pleasant, subtle odor from the natural wood it contains.
Joona Kontinen, Sulapac's innovation manager, adds, "The material is so stable that it works as well or better than other wood filaments or PLA.
It is BPI certified as industrially compostable, contains 72% USDA certified bio-based content, and leaves no permanent microplastics or toxic loads. It meets EU and US requirements for food contact materials.
Giorgio Müller, Director of Sales and Marketing at GEHR, commented: "We are seeing a clear demand in the market for sustainable wood filaments that meet our very strict quality requirements for food contact applications. ECO-FIL-A-GEHR WOOD is unlike any other wood wool currently available and is what many of our customers have been waiting for.
It will most likely be used initially for cosmetic prototyping, but can also be used for decorative components and point-of-sale displays.
Sulapac describes its Flow v1.7 as a sustainable extrusion material that is "ideal for thin-walled structures such as straw.
It has a tensile strength of MPs 33 and can withstand a tensile strain of 11%. It has a melting point of 151º
Suvi Haimi, CEO and co-founder of Sulapac, concluded, "We are excited to work with GEHR, an industry leader with extensive expertise and experience in serving large cosmetic companies, to provide significant added value 3D printing to our cosmetic customers, but also potentially in many other areas.
