A Win for Sustainability: JM Receives the FILTREX Innovation Award 2025

Our innovative filter media recycling process has won the FILTREX鈩 2025 Innovation Award! That鈥檚 big news for us but more importantly, we鈥檝e taken a big step toward solving a major challenge: what to do with post-industrial glass microfiber filtration media waste. We鈥檝e developed a way to give it a second life by recycling it into durable products. So, this award is a win for sustainability, and a sign of what鈥檚 possible when we rethink waste.听

The Challenge: Where Does Post-Industrial Filtration Media Waste Go?听

Manufacturing filtration media generates production waste - scraps, trim waste, and out-of-spec materials - that traditionally had no easy path for recycling. But still, these materials contain valuable glass microfiber and PET, that shouldn鈥檛 go to waste. We knew there had to be a better way to reclaim and reuse them.听听

The Solution: Turning Waste into Opportunity听

Rather than treating this material as garbage, we asked: What if we could turn it into something new?听听With our partners at (Austria), we developed a groundbreaking recycling process that:听

鈻讹笍 Collects post-industrial filtration waste from our production.听

鈻讹笍 Compounds it with recycled PET (rPET) or ABS polymers to create pellets.听

鈻讹笍 Uses these pellets for injection molding, transforming them into durable components, such as putty knives and tile spacers for JM鈥檚 GoBoard庐 tile backer business and other non-structural molded parts.听

Evalith庐 micro fiberglass nonwovens for air filtration are made from bio-soluble micro fiberglass
Evalith庐 micro fiberglass nonwovens for air filtration are made from bio-soluble micro fiberglass

Proven Results at an Industrial Scale听

This concept has been successfully demonstrated on an industrial scale, highlighting its incredible potential and effectiveness. In partnership with PureLoop, our trials achieved an initial throughput of 300 kg/hour, proving that:听

鉁旓笍 The waste material can be directly fed into a twin-screw compounding system.听

鉁旓笍 The resulting pellets contain ~30% glass fiber, enhancing mechanical properties.听

鉁旓笍 Minimal pre-processing is required, making the process cost-effective and efficient.听

Mechanical testing at our Technical Center in Littleton, CO (USA) confirmed that the material exhibits reinforcing behavior due to the glass fibers.听

Post-industrial glass microfiber filtration media waste gets recycled into compounded pellets for injection molding
Post-industrial glass microfiber filtration media waste gets recycled into compounded pellets for injection molding

Why This Matters: The Impact on the Environment听

This innovation goes beyond waste reduction, offering significant environmental and economic advantages:

🌍 Landfill Avoidance 鈥 At least 50% of the material in our compounded pellets comes from diverted filtration media scrap.听

💰 Lower Costs, Higher Performance 鈥 Compared to 100% rPET, our approach reduces material costs by up to 50% while enhancing mechanical properties compared to unreinforced polymers.听

鈾伙笍 CO鈧 Reduction & Further Recyclability 鈥 Using recycled filtration media instead of virgin PET significantly lowers CO鈧 emissions. Our compounded pellets remain thermoplastic, meaning they can be recycled again, extending their lifecycle even further.听听

🚀 Scalability & Future Applications 鈥 Our current trials demonstrate feasibility, and we鈥檙e exploring ways to expand this process further. This includes potentially recycling end-of-life HVAC filters 鈥 including their frames 鈥 in the future.听听

The JM Team at FILTREX 2025 (from left to right): Hans-J眉rgen Meitinger, Markus Gr盲ber, Roger Eckrich, Christian Hassmann, J枚rg Meier, Chris Griffin
The JM Team at FILTREX 2025 (from left to right): Hans-J眉rgen Meitinger, Markus Gr盲ber, Roger Eckrich, Christian Hassmann, J枚rg Meier, Chris Griffin

What鈥檚 Next?听

Winning the FILTREX鈩 Innovation Award is a milestone, but this is just the beginning. We鈥檙e committed to pushing this technology and driving sustainability in filtration media manufacturing.听听A massive thank you to our incredible team, partners, and everyone who voted for us at FILTREX鈩 2025. Together, we鈥檙e making filtration even more sustainable.听听

Want to learn more? Let鈥檚 talk!听

Filtration Media Recycling

Filtration Media Recycling

Play the video to learn more about our process that transforms filtration media procution waste into new, durable products - presented by Chris Griffin, Director of Sustainability & Innovation.听

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