Ahlstrom-Munksjö is increasing the supply of face masks for consumers in Finland together with Teho Filter Oy and S Group.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö supplies face mask material from its plant in Tampere to Teho Filter for the assembly of the masks.The masks will be available in May-June in the stores of Finland-based retailer S Group. The filtration efficiency of the face mask material of 88% has been verified by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, which is substantially higher than the roughly 20-40% efficiency of the masks made of cloth. The filtration efficiency of a mechanical filter media remains intact over time compared to electrostatically charged materials the efficiency of which may decrease in humid conditions.

“We work with determination in order to enhance the supply of face masks for consumers in Finland. At the same time, we are further supporting the reopening in Finland once the corona pandemic restrictions loosen,” states Otto Kivi, sales manager at Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s Filtration business.

The company announced in April that it will start the production of face mask materials in Tampere. The plant is capable of producing material for more than 10 million masks in the short-term and has the ability to increase capacity to about 30 million masks per month. Earlier in May, the company announced a similar co-operation on face mask supply with other Finnish players.

”We are also very pleased about the continued product development in Tampere: our production now meets the filtration efficiency requirements of surgical face mask materials. Currently, we are working together with our customers to develop a product that meets the European Standard EN 14683 for surgical masks. The availability of various protective gear is vitally important,” Kivi continues.