From the Sector

• IVL is celebrating a decade of PET recycling and carbon reduction milestones
• Over 10 years, IVL has achieved a 100x increase in recycled PET

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), a world-class sustainable chemical company, launches its 10th annual Sustainability Report and a video celebrating a decade of ambitious PET recycling and carbon reduction milestones. The company is committed to intensifying its drive towards ending plastic waste and a more circular economy in the decade ahead.

Since its first Sustainability Report in 2011, IVL has grown its sustainability initiatives through the 3Ps – People, Planet and Prosperity. From the baseline in 2013, the company achieved a 10% reduction in GHG intensity, 4% in energy intensity and 7% in water intensity. It also increased total waste diverted from landfill from 48% to 84% in 2020. Moreover, IVL’s global PET recycling capacity has improved almost 100 times from 3,576 tons per year in 2011 – the first entry of IVL to the PET recycling business – to more than 330,000 tons per year in the second quarter of 2021.

Celebrating 10 years of sustainability reporting
Throughout the decade, IVL has voluntarily adopted international standards for its sustainability reports to drive benefits for the environment, society and economy. The effort resulted in recognition by world-class sustainability ratings agencies such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI).

Recent Sustainability Reports have featured business cases and special situations such as COVID-19. In 2016, IVL was the first Thailand-based company to introduce an additional, shorter version of the report called the Sustainability Report Executive Summary. This year, IVL has made further improvements with an interactive approach, including links to videos and shortcuts to highlighted articles. As a global company operating in 33 countries, the report is available in 15 languages.

On track to recycle 50 billion bottles per year by 2025
In 2020 IVL recycled 10.1 billion PET bottles and is on track to recycle 50 billion bottles per year by 2025. The company’s global reach and leadership position as the world’s largest PET and recycled PET resin producer allow IVL to leverage a closed-loop system. In 2020 IVL invested in three additional recycling facilities and recently acquired CarbonLite’s recycling assets in Texas.

With its resource-saving dyeing technology, We aRe SpinDye takes place in H&M's latest Innovation Stories collection called Co-exist.

The use of We aRe SpinDye's technology contributes to reducing both water consumption and CO2 emissions, which in turn leads to a lower impact on the world's ecosystem and creates conditions for our co-existence with nature.

Up to 24% of a garment's entire climate footprint occurs during dyeing. We aRe SpinDye's technology can reduce the consumption of the earth's resources in textile production. On average, the reduction of water is -75%, chemicals -90% and energy consumption and CO2 emissions -30%.

In just one year, the clothing industry uses 9 billion cubic meters of water (which is in line with the annual need for drinkingwater for the entire population of our planet) and 168 million tons of process chemicals to dye fabrics. We aRe SpinDye now hopes that more players in the industry will pay attention to the ways that are available when it comes to resource-efficient dyeing process and quickly implement this technology in their production.

"The enormous resource consumption in the dyeing process is a global problem that must be addressed on a broad front. It is therefore inspiring to work with major brands with an organization that is sensitive to cutting-edge expertise and at the same time shows a willingness to work together to achieve common goals", says Andreas Andrén, CEO of We aRe SpinDye.

Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles concluded its 27th autumn edition in early October. Held alongside four other concurrent textile shows, the fair was the only major event for this sector able to take place in China during this season, providing a much-needed business platform for 735 exhibitors and 20,106 trade buyers. The fair was held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai).

Ms Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd expressed: “Due to the valuable cooperation of many parties and the continued support of our exhibitors and other partners, we were able to hold the fair as scheduled despite a number of challenges. Since the pandemic situation was brought under control in China last year, we have expended considerable resources to ensure our textile fairs still take place to provide trading platforms that connect the global industry. This edition was especially important as it was the only major fair to take place in the country at this time.”

While a number of international exhibitors participated this year with individual booths, the Belgium Pavilion presented home and contract products and five Chinese regional pavilions from Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Huzhou, Haining, and Tongxiang also featured. Two trend forums also provided inspiration for 2022, while the IKASAS Japanese Home Design Gallery, New Voices of Top Youth Upholstery Designers City Roving Exhibition and China International Fiber Art Exhibition gave further insights into various aspects of the industry.

Fair’s fringe programme highlights sustainability, design and more
As with all of Messe Frankfurt’s textile fairs around the world, sustainability is a big focus. A number of events under this focus took place in the fair’s fringe programme, including a half day forum titled How Sustainable Fashion is Reshaping Lifestyles, with a range of innovative companies and prestigious universities participating as speakers.

The Design Talk session featured a series of presentations from leading international designers, including from China, Japan and Europe, to share their design insights. And a new concept this year, titled New Voices of Top Youth Upholstery Designers – Intertextile Upholstery Design and City Roving Exhibition, showcased the work of six groups of young local designers from across China who presented the interior design ideas of their generation through displays and a forum. And reflecting the changes that continue to accelerate in the industry, a number of e-commerce and cross-border trade events took place, including sessions from the likes of JD Home, AliExpress and Tmall.

The 2022 Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles – Spring Edition will take place from 9 – 11 March, while the Autumn Edition is scheduled for 23 – 25 August 2022.

In a position paper published on 22 October 2021, the companies organised in the VDMA Textile Machinery Association welcome the ambitions of the EU to promote climate protection, in particular the approach of combining the goals for the EU textile and clothing industry into a sector-specific strategy.

Up to now, the increasing textile consumption around the world, due to growing population and purchasing power has been accompanied by a rising use of resources. “The textile machinery companies organised in the VDMA are geared towards a functioning circular economy. With our highly efficient technologies we are an indispensable partner in this transition process”, explained Regina Brückner, Chairwoman of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association and Managing Associate of Brückner Trockentechnik.  

In the new position paper, the executive board of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association emphasises that the new framework must be practicable. Ms Brückner said: “The EU must strike the right balance between necessary, yet also minimal, legislative regulation. A successful transition requires a level playing field which sets out fair rules for sustainability, thereby enabling European companies to nonetheless increase their international competitiveness.”

You can find the complete position paper in the attachment.

2050 is the year when adidas plans to achieve climate neutrality. It’s also the year when it’s expected that our oceans will contain more plastic than fish, that is, if we don’t act now. Adidas' solution to help end plastic waste and achieve climate neutrality? Sustainable innovation.

Last year adidas announced the Three Loop Strategy – their roadmap to help end plastic waste. At the heart of this is Circular Loop – Made To Be Remade.

The concept behind Made To Be Remade (MTBR) is simple: when one piece of plastic has fulfilled its purpose, it must be remade to fulfil another. Their attitude is that the end of one thing equates to the beginning of the next, and that their products’ lives can be extended by remaking them into new products.

Adidas' Circular Loop creation process has come a long way since they introduced FUTURECRAFT.LOOP – their first running shoe made to be remade – in 2019. From what started as a beta program of just 200 pairs has developed into a concept within the business that spans across multiple categories and in April this year saw the first commercial launch – Ultraboost Made To Be Remade.

Ultraboost Made To Be Remade will see the next generation released in November this year (2021). The shoe will be created in part from the previous generation. Featuring a torsion bar that contains 25% reused content from the Futurecraft Loop Gen 2.

W21 will see another adidas icon join the MTBR family - Stan Smith Made To Be Remade. Just like the Ultraboost model, Stan Smith MTBR has been created entirely from TPU – from laces to midsole and everything in between.

Adidas’s best-loved Outdoor products are also receiving the MTBR treatment. Alongside Stan Smith MTBR, October will welcome the TERREX Free Hiker Made To Be Remade, featuring a TPU knitted upper and TPU outsole, making it the first TERREX hiking shoe to use the technology. The shoe will be accompanied by the launch of the TERREX Made To Be Remade Anorak – their second-generation prototype following on from the FW20 FUTURECRAFT.LOOP Anorak, which will be commercially available in 2022.

International technology group ANDRITZ has received an order from Albaad Massuot Yitzhak Ltd. to supply a neXline wetlace hybrid line for their Dimona facilities, Israel. The line will produce a wide variety of pulp-based wet wipes and is scheduled for start-up during the third quarter 2023.

The state-of-the-art neXline wetlace hybrid is the perfect combination of inline drylaid and wetlaid web forming with hydroentanglement and drying, including quality control equipment and a Metris Industry 4.0 package. All components will be delivered by ANDRITZ and are designed to produce first-class fabrics, including biodegradable, carded-pulp and flushable/dispersible nonwovens for end uses as wipes.

Tobias Schäfer, Vice President Sales at ANDRITZ Nonwoven, comments: “Our innovative production line gives Albaad enormous flexibility in the production of wipes. In addition, the Metris digitalization package by ANDRITZ will provide Albaad with highly efficient and smart operation.”

Dan Mesika, CEO and President of Albaad, says: “We are dedicated to developing new products – such as eco-friendly, biodegradable wipes. As pioneering manufacturers of our Hydrofine® flushable wipes, we are committed to environmental sustainability. Thanks to the new ANDRITZ line, we will enlarge the product portfolio at our Dimona production site with innovative fabrics and high efficiency.

Gadi Choresh, President of the Nonwovens Division at Albaad, says: “Our knowledge and experience in drylaid and wetlaid technology, together with the state-of-the-art equipment supplied by ANDRITZ, will enable us to provide the market with natural-source nonwovens and the best answer to the market demand.”
 
Albaad is one of the world’s three largest wet wipe manufacturers and is committed to delivering excellent wipes for every need. The company runs world-leading production facilities on three continents, each equipped with the latest technologies. Albaad produces spunlace and flushable fabrics in its facilities as well as purchasing from other roll goods suppliers in order to support production of a wide variety of wipes.

Kornit Digital Ltd. announced the release of its Kornit Presto MAX system for sustainable on-demand production of apparel and other textile goods. The new system will make its live debut at Kornit Fashion Week Los Angeles + Industry 4.0 Event, which the company is hosting November 2-5 to showcase technology innovations, partnerships, and proven strategies driving the business case for sustainable, on-demand production of fashion and textile goods worldwide.

Kornit Presto MAX is the first digital print system to offer white printing on colored fabrics, enhancing decoration capabilities for dark colored fabrics more broadly. It is the only single-step solution for direct-to-fabric printing, delivering the highest quality and softest feel with brilliant whites and brighter neon colors. The system is ready to incorporate future iterations and evolutions of XDi technology—3D decorative applications to produce threadless embroidery, high-density, vinyl, screen transfer, and other innovative effects.

Kornit Presto MAX is compatible with natural fabrics, synthetics, and blends, and includes advanced algorithms for smart autonomous calibration, to deliver high-quality results with short cycle times and minimal manual interruptions or defects. The system was devised for compatibility with the KornitX global fulfillment ecosystem to enable anywhere, anytime production, supporting a true distributed production model that fulfills nearer the end consumer, eliminating time and logistical waste from the experience while empowering brands to ensure quality and consistency across all systems and production sites.

Kornit Presto MAX provides the cornerstone of a smart, efficient, sustainable EcoFactory that empowers producers to cover and integrate more parts of the process, from design to finished product, to decrease their carbon footprint, use minimum manpower, and generate less waste. This means eliminating excessive time, labor, and shipping throughout the value chain, enabling proximity production to meet the accelerated demands of a web-driven global marketplace—revealing new sales channels and clever business models to grow the business long-term.

The Hygiene Fibers Group of Indorama Ventures (IVL) came together at the Index Show to present an all-inclusive range of recycled and biodegradable solutions for Hygiene Fiber and Nonwoven applications.

The combination of polymers, technologies, processes and global reach supported by the Hygiene Fibers Group – one of three business segments that make up Indorama Ventures – positions it within the Hygiene industry to meet increasingly challenging market demand for innovative sustainable solutions within the hygiene sector. Across the six brands and companies that make up Hygiene Fibers Group – Auriga, Avgol, FiberVisions, Indorama Asia, Trevira and Wellman International – sustainability and supporting customers to achieve circular objectives is integral to all efforts and fundamental to the ethos of the Hygiene business segment.

At the Index Show, the Hygiene Fibers Group launched CiCLO®, a textile technology which allows polyester and other synthetic materials to biodegrade like natural materials do in wastewater treatment plant sludge, sea water and landfill conditions, reducing synthetic microfiber pollution generated during washing, and minimizing plastic accumulation in landfills caused by discarded textiles.

In line with the company’s commitment to support customers with high performance products, while also reducing the impact on the environment, several of the  Hygiene Fibers brands, including Wellman International, Trevira GMBH and Auriga, have been working closely over the last 12 months with the IAM team and the CiCLO® technology. Developments have focused on PET and rPET staple fiber and filament sustainable solutions for applications where recycling is particularly challenging, such as Hygiene, Home Textiles and Automotive applications.

Strengthening the profile of biodegradable offerings within the Hygiene Fibers Group’s sustainability portfolio, Trevira introduced a new range of bicomponent fibres based on PLA and PBS (polybutylene succinate) at the Index show. Both biopolymers offer an exceptional technological opportunity in terms of environmental care and sustainability, while delivering optimum performance. Equally to PLA, PBS is recyclable and up to 100% biodegradable under industrial conditions.

Efforts towards supporting customers to achieve circular objectives are a priority within the Hygiene Fibers Group. This is reflected in the recycled fibers expertise deployed across the segment. Four Hygiene Fibers Group brands, IVL Asia, Auriga, Trevira and Wellman International offer an extensive range of 100% recycled, accredited PET fibers, across a multitude of fiber and nonwovens applications.

The development and evolution of sustainable technologies is central to activity across IVL’s Hygiene Fibers Group, with particular focus on sustainable polyolefin solutions. FiberVisions and ES-FIBERVISIONS, leading Polyolefin mono and bico fiber brands and sister company Avgol, have partnered with UK-based Polymateria to commercially harness the innovative ‘biotransformation’ technology pioneered by Polymateria. The patented technology alters the properties of polyolefins to make them biodegradable in a natural process.  Other polyolefin sustainable innovations within the Hygiene Fibers Group were featured at Index include biosurfactant and biocolourant developments being undertaken by the Avgol team with FiberVisons progressing sustainable design solutions, including lightweight, high performance, reduced carbon solutions.

The German speciality viscose fibre manufacturer Kelheim Fibres was awarded gold in the CSR rating by EcoVadis, scoring among the top 3% of all companies evaluated. The rating was well above average in all four individual areas (environment, labour and human rights, ethics, sustainable procurement), but Kelheim Fibres achieved absolute top scores in the environment area in particular.

In addition to the excellent EcoVadis rating, Kelheim Fibres is also the first viscose fibre producer worldwide with a certified EMAS environmental management system and ranked highly in the Canadian NGO Canopy's "Hot Button Report" for sustainable wood and pulp sourcing.

Since its founding in 2007, EcoVadis has grown to become the world’s largest and most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings, creating a global network of more than 75,000 rated companies.

Beaulieu Fibres International is attending INDEX™20 in Geneva and is excited to accelerate its work helping customers to exceed in product performance and sustainability.

For nonwoven converters serving the hygiene segment, a feature at INDEX™20 will be the company’s optimized Meralux specialty fibre, with fit for use performance and sustainability properties. It offers opacity improvements (reduction of TiO2 for the same opacity levels), higher coverage, higher bulkiness, and improved liquid management.

In addition, Meralux fibres deliver substantial sustainability benefits including about 55% savings in raw materials, with equivalent carbon emission savings, thanks to weight reduction in nonwovens for the same coverage, and higher recyclability of PP/PE.

The latest additions to the hygiene fibres portfolio are Meraspring BICO PET fibres. Meraspring enables nonwovens to combine a softness and loftiness that provides a cushioned, even “well-being”, experience for end-users of applications such as diapers and fem-pads. The fibres are available in a range from 1.7-8.9 dtex with hydrophilic, hydrophobic and wellbeing finishes depending on the properties required in the final product.

In the industrial fibres segment, UltraBond thermal bonding fibre will finally be presented with its INDEX™20 Nonwovens Award in the category "sustainable raw material".

In addition, Beaulieu Fibres International’s new range of MONO low count and BICO fibres are setting new performance standards for the fast-growing air and liquid filtration markets.

At INDEX™20, Beaulieu Fibres International also presenets its Pilot Line to test the waters of co-development opportunities without risk. The Pilot Line offers the utmost flexibility to produce samples, without the typical constraints imposed by industrial production lines, replicating any type of staple fibre spinning technology using different types of polymers and additives and different types of cross sections.