44 PRODUCTS P a p e r b o a r d p l as ti c s Omya minerals play an essential r ole in saving pr ecious raw materials as eg cellulose fbers in paper and boar d pr oduction or polymers in plastic packaging and technical applications like window pr ofles pipes cables and sidings etc Whether as a coating pigment or as a fller the use of Calcium Carbonate r esults in a mor e envir onmentally friendly and less energy consuming pr oduction pr ocess Wher eas paper and boar d pr oduction benefts fr om impr oved dewatering and r educed drying polymers can be pr ocessed faster due to optimized heat transfer Impr oved pr oduction capacity or r educed cycle times ar e additional pr ocess benefts of using Calcium Carbonate Also physical pr operties of the end pr oduct ar e positively impacted may it be higher brightness and gloss better opacity and printability with paper and boar d qualities or eg incr eased str ength and impact r esistance for plastics an ef fect which can be used for downgauging Omya Calcium Carbonates can even assume important functionalities eg in the pr oduction of br eathable flm wher e the mineral particles ar e r esponsible for the membrane pr operties or in the case of Micr oFibrillated Cellulose MFC wher e the fact of cogrinding Calcium Carbonate with cellulose fbers pr ovides extra material str ength when added to paper or boar d The low carbon footprint of Calcium Carbonate qualities in comparison to other raw materials can signifcantly contribute to a r eduction of the overall carbon footprint of the end pr oduct