Unilever Chooses New Zealand Wool

New Zealand’s Lanaco has signed a major deal with Unilever-owned air purifier manufacturer Blueair for its world-leading New Zealand, natural, renewable woollen air filter.

The company has hailed the new partnership as a truly significant step in the commercialisation of its Ecostatic® wool filters and a boost for the air purifier market that has previously relied on synthetic air filters.

Lanaco’s Ecostatic® wool filters have made it into outer space on NASA rockets for Moon and Mars missions, and were part of the facemasks that kept the New Zealand team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics free of COVID. Now they have found a home on Earth.

Lanaco founder and chief executive Nick Davenport says the new partnership with Blueair, a leading Swedish air wellness pioneer, represents a step-change in the global air filtration market. Blueair is the first to integrate Lanaco’s natural, renewable New Zealand wool fibre-based EcoStatic® technology into its range of portable air purifiers.

“Blueair's dedication to innovation, sustainability and quality resonates with our core values at Lanaco,” Nick Davenport says.

“Our company has developed wool-based filter media because wool provides both the basis for true performance and the best sustainability credentials. We are thrilled that our partnership with Blueair captures this capability whilst also recognising the environmental benefits of woollen filters as well.

“Just as Icebreaker did for wool clothing, Lanaco is bringing its branded New Zealand wool technology to the global filtration market by partnering with one of Europe’s greatest consumer goods companies.”

Blueair chief executive Andy Lu says partnering with Lanaco to produce the industry's first woollen, biodegradable filter is not just a milestone for Blueair, “but a transformative moment for the entire air purification industry”.

Lanaco’s EcoStatic® electrostatic filter technology is uniquely supported by the established Ovis Global™ Astino® sheep breeding programme, which , which is pivotal in its success as wool with superior filtration performance is being bred for. This initiative presents a long-term growth opportunity for the farming sector, with thousands of tonnes of New Zealand wool potentially benefiting from this scientifically sophisticated application of wool as a novel biomaterial.

Targeting a global filter media market valued at over $US8 billion, Lanaco says the Unilever partnership is the first of several high volume market opportunities that Lanaco is presently progressing to full commercialisation.

About Lanaco

Lanaco is an Auckland-based, predominantly New Zealand-owned company that manufactures woollen-based, natural and renewable materials for use in air filtration. Focused on the principles of sustainability, performance and innovation, Lanaco’s Ecostatic® product range provides superior, natural solutions for use in air conditioning, appliance safety and healthcare products, which all share the principal function of delivering clean air for people to breathe.

The technology is underpinned by extensive wool science and a bespoke New Zealand sheep breeding programme called Astino®, providing the unique data and knowledge of fibre performance, which make its output wool increasingly relevant to Lanaco’s customer needs.

EcoStatic® is a non-woven, natural, wool-rich fibre material which possesses a strong electrostatic charge enabling it to remove the tiniest particles from the air. Filters from this are being used in space by NASA in its trials of vehicles to go to the Moon and Mars.

About Blueair

Founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 1996, Blueair is a world-leading producer of air purification solutions for home and professional use., Blueair delivers innovative, best-in-class, energy-efficient products and services sold in more than 60 countries. The company became a part of the Unilever family of brands in 2016.

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