Soundim Oy
Minimising the Environmental Impact of Railway Barriers
This article first appeared in the Railway-News magazine Issue 3 2023.
Soundim offers the rail industry a high-impact sound barrier with a low impact on the environment.
This is because the innovative design of Soundim’s barriers ensure they don’t block the view from either in or outside of the train, while the majority of its components can be recycled when the barrier comes to the end of its useful life.
Recyclable Materials
Soundim’s noise-blocking railway barriers offer a sustainable solution to sound reduction on railways.
This is because the company places great emphasis on recycling initiatives, and its barriers are designed to be easily disassembled and recycled at the end of their lifespan, minimising waste and promoting a circular economy.
“In the beginning when the design tender was released, the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency expressed a strong wish that all material in the low-height barrier should be recyclable. This was our guideline in designing and building the first prototype, which we have since approved upon multiple times,” says Jarmo Airaksinen, Founder of Soundim.
Each panel is made from aluminium, steel and Ewona insulation, which is created using environmentally friendly, additive-free recycled materials.
The insulation panels consist of polyester fibres bonded together with heat and, depending on their use, can be made of up to 85% recycled plastic. This means the insulation already offers some great sustainability credentials at the point of manufacture, as one 10m2 panel can represent a CO2 emission reduction of 23 kilogrammes.
These are extended further when the material reaches the end of its useful life, as it can then be sent on to a textile recycling facility.
No Need to Spoil the View
Soundim’s award-winning barriers are also ‘landscape friendly’, as they allow for unobstructed views of the surrounding landscape due to their low height.
This means that both onboard passengers and anyone looking at or beyond the track won’t have their view restricted. This is particularly important for scenic areas, where the natural beauty or urban skylines shouldn’t be obscured.
