- Office of Technical Assistance and Technology
Shawmut Corporation, based in West Bridgewater, MA, is a producer of coated and laminated performance materials. The company has 400 employees at eight locations and has been headquartered and operating in the Commonwealth since 1916. The company laminates a variety of flexible substrates to create automotive headliner and interior trim materials, disposable medical products, protective work suits, filtration, military textiles, footwear, and breathable waterproof barriers. Shawmut historically utilized three principal processes: flame lamination, solvent-based adhesive lamination and thermoplastic adhesive lamination to bond a variety of substrates, including fabrics, foams, films, nonwovens, papers and foils. Since 1990, the company has been working consistently at toxics use reduction (TUR) to reduce both the use and emissions of trichloroethylene (TCE) from the solvent adhesive lamination process and in March of 2013, the company successfully eliminated all use of TCE at the facility by converting to a hot-melt adhesion process.
