DILO receives award for the new development “MicroPunch”

At this year's CINTE Techtextil fair in Shanghai, DILO received the innovation award for its intensive needling technology “MicroPunch”. Recent developments in energy costs, particularly for electricity and gas, and given the increasing shortage of water resources, have led to a shift in thinking over the past few years. Together with economic efficiency, the evaluation of the environmental impact of production has become increasingly important.

Ontex sells its Brazilian business to Softys

Ontex Group NV (Euronext: Ontex), international developer and producer of personal care products, announced a binding agreement to sell its Brazilian business activities to Softys S.A. for an enterprise value of BRL 671 million (or approximately €110 million*).

Softys is a personal hygiene company with operations across Latin America, that also acquired Ontex’s Mexican business activities in 2023. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Empresas CMPC S.A., which is headquartered in Chile.

The transaction includes Ontex’s business in Brazil and its manufacturing facility in Senador Canedo in the State of Goiás. The business develops, manufactures, commercializes and distributes diapers and pants for the baby care market under the PomPom, Cremer, Sapeka and Turma da Mônica brands, as well as for the adult care market under the Bigfral brand. It has approximately 1,400 employees and contributed revenue of €97 million and adjusted EBITDA of €13 million to the Group in the first half of 2024.

Levi’s® launches new global campaign featuring Beyoncé

The Levi’s® brand announced a new campaign with global icon Beyoncé. Following the release of “LEVII’S JEANS” — a track from “COWBOY CARTER,” the critically acclaimed album exploring and redefining Americana — Beyoncé steps into the role of protagonist in “REIIMAGINE,” a campaign inspired by the legacy of the Levi’s® brand and the forward-thinking vision of one of the most influential figures of modern culture, reaffirming the brand’s enduring place at the center of culture.
 
Drawing inspiration from Beyoncé’s innovative approach to art, culture and storytelling, the campaign reimagines classic Levi’s® looks and films. In a series of chapters, the new campaign reinterprets several of the Levi’s® brand’s most iconic advertisements, bringing them into the modern era through the transformative vision of celebrated filmmaker Melina Matsoukas. The first film — inspired by “Launderette,” the 1985 ad that famously reignited “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” on the Billboard charts — places Beyoncé center stage and celebrates the Levi’s® brand’s heritage as a canvas for self-expression, worn by changemakers and icons alike.
 

OUTLOOK24: Successful conference and exhibition

OUTLOOK™ 2024 took place on 24-26 September 2024 in Rome, gathering a record of 549 delegates from 212 companies and 37 countries across the nonwovens personal care, hygiene & wipes products value chain.

OUTLOOK24 Conference
The conference, structured across five key sessions, featured 26 speakers covering a diverse array of critical topics impacting not only the nonwovens industry but society at large. These topics included cutting-edge innovations and eco-design, evolving market dynamics, navigating new EU regulations, the future of absorbent hygiene products, sustainability, retail strategies, and the challenges posed by China's influence on European commerce.

The event's first day opened with a compelling presentation by Joachim De Vos, Managing Partner and Founder of Living Tomorrow & TomorrowLab. As an expert in strategic innovation and scenario planning, he shared valuable insights on guiding organizations towards future-readiness. He highlighted the emerging success factors, emphasizing how Generative AI can be leveraged to develop scenarios for the nonwovens industry, serving as a powerful roadmap for future innovation.

CHT Group: Dr. Christian Rink new CFO

As of October 1, 2024, Dr. Christian Rink will take over the position of global CFO of the CHT Group held by Prof. Dr. Klaus Müller on an interim basis. In this role, he will be responsible for Finance & Controlling, Information Technology, Digitalization, Compliance Management and Project Management. From now on, Dr. Christian Rink will form the Management Board together with CEO Eva Baumann.

Dr. Rink has gained extensive experience in various functions within the Bosch Group, where he held management positions in Logistics and Finance & Controlling. Among other things, he was Commercial Head Asia Pacific for the Bosch Home Comfort Group in Shanghai, China, and most recently Vice President Finance and Controlling of the Business Unit Electric Solutions which was responsible for building up the Bosch Group's heat pump business.

Archroma: “PLANET CONSCIOUS+” vision for a more sustainable future

Archroma, a leader in specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, honed its vision of the future of the apparel and textile industry with the announcement of “PLANET CONSCIOUS+”, a roadmap designed to support brands and mills to chart their sustainability journey.

“Over the past decade, Archroma has been on a mission to lead the textile industry towards a more sustainable future. But the world’s challenges are escalating – from climate change to economic and geopolitical instability. We believe that the time is right for us to realign our vision to guide the next phase of our development. ‘PLANET CONSCIOUS+’ encapsulates both our responsibility and our potential as a company that touches and colors people’s lives every day, all around the world,” Mark Garrett, Group CEO, Archroma, said.

“PLANET CONSCIOUS+” has six dimensions, the first four of which have been rolled out over the past few months:

Co-founder of recycling machine manufacturer EREMA has died

Helmut Bacher, co-founder of Austrian plastics recycling machine manufacturer EREMA and former managing partner, passed away on 20 September at the age of 81.

Helmut Bacher is regarded as a pioneer of plastics recycling. Together with his two colleagues Georg Wendelin and Helmuth Schulz, Helmut Bacher founded EREMA Engineering Recycling Maschinen und Anlagen Ges.m.b.H. in Linz, Austria, in 1983. Their life’s work was acknowledged in 2008 when the three founders received the Golden Award of Honour from the Province of Upper Austria.

ANDRITZ: Recycled fibers for production of mattresses in Australia

International technology group ANDRITZ supplied and recently commissioned a tearing line at Sealy Australia’s mattress manufacturing plant in Brisbane. Versatile technology enables Sealy to recycle post-consumer and post-industrial textile waste in one line.

Sealy is a leading Australian manufacturer of high-quality mattresses, producing 1,000 mattresses per day at its Brisbane plant. To replace some of the virgin fiber feedstock with more sustainable recycled fibers, the company installed an ANDRITZ tearing line at the plant.

The ANDRITZ reXline tearing can process up to 1,200 kg/h of cotton denim waste and up to 800 kg/h of quilt waste. The 6-cylinder Exel module allows flexible switching between the two types of material. The combination of the reXline and the ANDRITZ airfelt line, which has been in operation at the Brisbane plant since 2008, enables Sealy to process large amounts of waste into new mattresses ready for sale around the world.

INDA and EDANA: LOI to explore strategic alliance

INDA, the Association of the Nonwovens Industry, based in Cary, North Carolina, and EDANA, the Voice of Nonwovens, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, have announced the signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI) in Rome to explore a strategic alliance. This marks a significant step toward leveraging their combined expertise and resources to address global challenges and drive new opportunities in the nonwovens industry.

As the nonwovens industry evolves, both associations recognize the need for a unified approach to navigate complex international markets. The potential alliance aims to deliver several key benefits:

drupa 2028 shortened to nine days

Staying true to its four-year cycle, drupa will be held again in May 2028, this time as a nine-day event. As the world’s leading platform for printing technology, the trade fair is adjusting to the changing needs and expectations of exhibitors and visitors and reflecting the continued transformation of the industry. The conceptual direction, new key visual and future claim of drupa 2028 will be presented to the industry in 2025.