New Zealand’s Lanaco has signed a deal with Unilever-owned air purifier manufacturer Blueair for its world-leading 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.
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-19. Now they have found a home on Earth.
Lanaco founder and chief executive Nick Davenport said the 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,” Davenport said.
“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 said 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 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.
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