From the Sector

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, announces the release of the International Fiber Journal’s (IFJ) special sustainability issue dedicated to nonwovens. This special edition, which was sponsored by INDA, is a key piece of the association’s 2024 strategic sustainability initiative, launched at the beginning of 2024 in response to feedback that sustainability remains one of the nonwovens industry’s highest priorities.

The IFJ special issue features exclusive content from industry leaders, including Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Glatfelter, Lenzing Fibers, NatureWorks LLC, Hollingsworth & Vose, MANN+HUMMEL, Nexus Circular, Henkel Corporation, and INDA. This edition explores key sustainability topics, structured around three core pillars vital to the industry’s future: Responsible Sourcing, Innovations in Sustainability, and End-of-Life Solutions. Featured topics include:

• Environmentally sustainable nonwoven materials
• Circularity in single-use plastics
• Potential of post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials in nonwovens
• Navigating regulatory challenges
• Advances in bio-based nonwovens
• The role of plastics and polymers in sustainability

“This special issue of the International Fiber Journal is a vital part of our multi-faceted sustainability initiative aimed at providing new and enhanced offerings to INDA members and the nonwovens industry. We are excited to see the industry come together to share insights on the sustainability challenges we face,” said Tony Fragnito, President of INDA.

SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. of Wakayama, Japan, together with its Indian sales representative Universal MEP Projects & Engineering Services, Ltd., will participate in the upcoming Garfab-TX Surat exhibition, an international trade show on embroidery apparel technology, fiber, yarn fabrics and accessories, to be held in Surat, India from 13th to 15th September 2024.

Surat is known as the textile hub of India, especially in terms of man-made fibers, and while it has been mainly an industrial center for wovens, there has been recent interest by manufacturers in the region to expand into new areas, including knitting.

As inventor and pioneer of WHOLEGARMENT®, the company is exhibiting its MACH2®XS WHOLEGARMENT® knitting machine. Featuring 4 needle beds and SHIMA SEIKI’s original SlideNeedle™, MACH2®XS is capable of producing high-quality fine gauge WHOLEGARMENT® products in all needles. Representing the cutting edge in conventional shaped knitting is the N.SVR®123SP machine featuring a loop presser bed that permits inlay technique for producing hybrid fabrics with both knit and weave characteristics. N.SVR®123SP furthermore features i-Plating® inverse-plating capability for increased patterning capability, including the production of jacquard-like patterns in light-weight plain jersey stitch. Both machines feature such SHIMA SEIKI innovations as DSCS® Digital Stitch Control System (with “intelligence” on MACH2®XS), spring-type moveable sinker system, stitch presser, yarn gripper and cutter, and takedown comb.

SHIMA SEIKI’s SDS®-ONE APEX4 3D design system will be available for demonstrations on the creative side of fashion, from planning and design to colorway evaluation, realistic fabric simulation and 3D virtual sampling. Virtual sampling is a digitized version of sample making, accurate enough to be  used effectively as prototypes. By replacing physical samples, virtual samples reduce time, cost and material that otherwise go to waste. Digital prototyping using virtual samples on SDS®-ONE APEX4 help to digitally transform the fashion supply chain for realizing sustainable manufacturing. Simulations are available not only for flat knitting, but for weaving, pile weaving, circular knitting and embroidery as well.

The sixth edition of Texhibition Istanbul from 11 to 13 September 2024 will once again bring together all components of the textile industry and offer an overview of all product groups in the textile preliminary stage: from woven goods to knitwear, from yarns and denim to artificial leather and textile accessories.

Texhibition Istanbul Fabric and Textile Accessories Fair, organised by İTKİB Fuarcılık A.Ş. in cooperation with the Istanbul Textile Exporters Association (İTHİB), is following on from this year's March event with the upcoming edition.

Highlights:

• Over 500 exhibitors will be presenting a wide range of products such as woven fabrics, knitwear, denim, accessories, artificial leather and yarns covering 35,000 square metres
• Over 25,000 trade visitors are expected from more than 100 countries, including the European Union, Great Britain, the USA, North Africa and the Middle East
• Yarn Hall completes the range of the preliminary stage and has firmly established itself at Texhibition with 41 exhibitors
• BlueBlackDenim showcases Türkiye's leading 25 denim manufacturers and inspires with creative denim installations
• Texhibition Trend Areas: The trend areas are created by combination of quality and creative themes of fabrics, yarns, denims and accessory products from the participants
• Texhibition Art Events: digital art, accessoires and yarn installations

Gerard Fres Ltd (GFL), a sweater manufacturer founded in France and based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has adopted Pivot88, a TradeBeyond company, to optimize its quality inspection processes.

Established in 1997 and known for its focus on sustainability and ethical production, Gerard Fres has been a pioneer in the knitwear industry, specializing in pullovers and exporting around six million pieces annually to various countries including France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Canada, Brazil, and Australia.

By incorporating Pivot88's technology, Gerard Fres aims to further its mission of ensuring supply chain efficiency from product design to end-consumer satisfaction, while maintaining quality and ethical and sustainable production principles.

Pivot88, known for its robust compliance, quality testing, and traceability solutions, will provide Gerard Fres with a platform that offers real-time oversight and comprehensive data analytics. This will enable Gerard Fres to conduct more effective and efficient quality inspections.

A sunny yellow shade on a mission to fill our homes with optimism, pride and a splash of vibrant color – that’s True Joy™, AkzoNobel’s Color of the Year for 2025.

Supported by three complementary color palettes, True Joy is the result of extensive research into color, design, cultural, economic and social trends, which identified a desire to make a joyful leap into the unknown, celebrate craftsmanship and embrace who we are.  
 
“In this rapidly changing world, it’s easy to feel uncertain about our next steps,” explains Heleen van Gent, Creative Director of AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center. “But change creates an opportunity for imagination; a chance to create something even better. With our new Color of the Year and ColourFutures 2025 palettes, we want to inspire consumers to celebrate their roots and creativity and embrace the optimism of moving forward in their homes and spaces.”
 
AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center has been translating trends into desirable colors for homes for more than 30 years. Its annual ColourFutures trend forecast meeting brings together in-house experts, international architects, designers and journalists to share insights into how our reactions to the world around us impact our color choices. Junior designers and interns were also included for the first time this year, to ensure that consumers from the widest possible age range were represented in the influential Color of the Year decision-making process.
 
Their discussions led to three decorative paint color stories being designed around True Joy to help consumers find the right complementary colors to match their mood and design preferences. The Bold color story urges you to leave your comfort zone and inject adventure into your home with bright and uplifting colors, while the Human color story encourages you to bring creativity into your home by filling it with unique handmade pieces. The Proud color palette invites you to embrace your identity and have the confidence to create a home that’s just as unique as you are.
 
Apart from Deco brands, the on-trend colors, textures and special effects have been designed for other key markets and segments, including aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics, metal furniture, lighting, cabinetry, flooring, and building and architectural products.

Fibre Extrusion Technology Ltd (FET) of Leeds, UK will be exhibiting for the first time at COMPAMED 2024 in Düsseldorf, taking place between between 11 – 14 November 2024, to reflect the company’s increasing profile in the medical sector. COMPAMED is a international trade fair for the medical technology supplier sector, showcasing a range of high-quality medical technology components, services and production equipment for the medical industry.

FET are experts in medical fibre technology and innovations, designing and delivering high performance equipment for a range of precursor medical products. This includes turnkey solutions for nonwoven medical devices, wound care and dressings and synthetic absorbable sutures.

FET’s expertise lies in laboratory and pilot melt spinning equipment for a vast range of applications, especially precursor materials used in high value medical devices and specialised novel fibres from exotic and difficult to process polymers. FET has processed over 100 different polymer types and its systems can melt spin resorbable polymers in multifilament, monofilament and nonwoven formats, collaborating with specialist companies worldwide to promote greater sustainability through innovative manufacturing processes. Where melt spinning solutions are not suitable, FET provides an alternative with pilot and small scale production wet and gel spinning systems.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) has achieved ISCC+ certification for three of its fiber manufacturing sites. In addition to one already ISCC+ certified fiber plant, this marks a significant milestone in the company's ongoing commitment to sustainability and circular economy practices. Across its entire business, a total of nine Indorama Ventures sites are now ISCC+ certified, offering a diverse range of sustainable products, including PTA, PET chips, fibers, and fabrics.

The newly certified high-performance fiber portfolio will serve customers who require technical yarns such as in the Mobility, Tire cords, Airbags, Industrial or Mechanical Rubber Goods sector. The new offerings include:

• Mass balanced (M.B.) polyamides PA6.6 and PA4.6 from the company’s sites in Obernburg (Germany) and Pizzighettone (Italy). Developed in collaboration with key partners, these products match the performance of standard polyamide yarns while reducing GHG emissions by approximately 55% at the polymer level.
• Bio-based high-tenacity PA4.10 (M.B.) yarn made in Obernburg (Germany) for tire and specialties applications. This 100% bio-content polymer, produced from bio-based Sebacic Acid and bio-based Di-Amino Butane (DAB) component via mass balancing, supports significant GHG emissions reduction due to the innovative raw material.
• Recycled PET yarns and tire cord fabric from Indorama Ventures’ site in Kaiping (China). These yarns and fabrics made from 100% recycled PET, represent the company’s efforts to drive the evolution towards circular practices and lower carbon products.

ISCC+ Certification
The ISCC+ (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) is a globally recognized standard for the sustainable production of biomass, and bio-based products, including recycled content. This certification ensures that materials are sourced and processed responsibly, reducing the environmental impact and promoting a circular economy.

Protective gloves, such as those used for work, sport or household gardening, retrieve their protective function from a special coating. This coating provides abrasion resistance, makes the material waterproof and resistant to chemicals or oil, and even protects against cuts and punctures. Until now, coatings made of oil-based polymers, nitrile rubber or latex have been the main materials used. Scientists at the German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research Denkendorf (DITF) have succeeded in developing a robust yet flexible glove coating using environmentally friendly lignin in a 3D printing process.

Coatings that are subject to mechanical stress always suffer from a certain degree of abrasion that is dispersed in the surrounding area. This is also the case with coated protective gloves. In order to avoid long-term pollution of the environment, materials should be used whose abrasion particles are biodegradable. The aim of the research project was to improve conventional protective equipment and integrate more sustainable materials.

The biopolymer lignin is a natural component of plant cells that is produced in large quantities as a by-product of paper manufacturing. Due to its properties, it represents an environmentally friendly alternative to oil-based coating polymers.

The scientists developed biopolymer compounds containing lignin, which were used to produce thermoplastic materials that can be processed using 3D printing.

Lignin has few polar groups, which makes lignins hydrophobic and therefore insoluble in water. For this reason, they biodegrade slowly. This makes them particularly suitable for durable coating materials.

Despite this durability, lignin particles that are released into the environment through abrasion biodegrade faster than the abrasion of conventional coatings. This is due to the much higher surface/volume ratio.

The use of 3D printing makes it possible to produce the coating precisely and efficiently. The 3D printing process also makes it possible to adapt the glove to the individual needs of the wearer. This increases wearer comfort and promotes freedom of movement.

The research project shows that the use of lignin not only offers ecological benefits, but that protective gloves coated with it are also particularly durable and resistant. They meet safety standards and at the same time contribute to sustainability in the world of work.

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, has announced the finalists for the 2024 RISE® Innovation Award. On October 1-2, technology scouts, product developers, and business development professionals will gather at the James B. Hunt, Jr. Library, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, to explore nonwoven research and advancements.

Finalists will present their innovations to RISE participants on Tuesday, October 1st. The Award winner will be revealed on Wednesday afternoon, October 2nd.

The 2024 Award Finalists:
Dual-Layer Filtration Media by Ahlstrom Italia S.p.A. – Ahlstrom’s new dual-layer filter media technology enhances engine air intake filtration performances, offering up to double the dust holding capacity and extending filter lifetime by over 50% compared to single-layer media. It also enables smaller, lighter filter designs, meeting current and future engine specifications, including fuel cells. Dual-layer filter media can be offered with flame-retardant functionality for various transportation and industrial applications, ensuring safety, improved performances and reduced environmental impact.

ENDURA™ rPP Spunbond & SMS by Berry Global – A pre-consumer recycled Spunbond and SMS product, recognized by SCS Recycled Content Certification. With Spunbond products containing up to 90% recycled content and SMS products containing up to 40% recycled content, customers/consumers are provided a product with greenhouse gas emissions benefits, validated with life cycle assessment tools assumptions based on the actual production.  ENDURA Spunbond products have the opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions per kilogram of production by 70%, versus previous generation of product.

PlantPanel X by Hempitecture Inc. – PlantPanel X is a rigid continuous insulation material used in exterior above-ground applications. With an R Value of R3.25 per inch, PlantPanel adds to thermal and acoustic comfort and performance. Engineered with a density to resist compression and deflection, PlantPanel is used in split-insulation wall and roof assemblies with either a rain screen cladding or roofing material, depending on the application. With 100% biobased and recycled content, PlantPanel is a sustainable, low carbon continuous insulation solution that’s easy to install and safe to handle.

2023 RISE Innovation Award winner:
TiHive won the 2023 RISE Innovation Award for their SAPMonit technology. TiHive’s innovation, SAPMonit, inspects millions of diapers weekly. SAPMonit delivers lightning-speed inline inspection of superabsorbents’ weight and distribution, optimizes resources, detects flaws, and accelerates R&D.

As Interfilière Paris is approaching, ROICA™ introduces its three partners that will exhibit at the fair focusing on intimate wear: Iluna Group, Innova Fabrics and Lauma Elastic.

Iluna Group
Iluna Group is specialized in the production of lingerie and fine fabrics. The company is known for its commitment to sustainability, using eco-high-tech materials and adopting responsible production practices. Its product line includes a wide range of lace, embroidery, and delicate fabrics.

Innova Fabrics
Innova Fabrics produces innovative and high-quality fabrics. It stands out for its ability to combine textile tradition with advanced technologies and offering a range of fabrics for various applications, as fashion, furnishings, and technical textiles.
I LOVE RF: the residual free (RF) line, aimed at reducing the impact of microplastics, is made with 84% Sensil Biocare polyamide and16% ROICA™ V550. PARIS SPECIAL V550: it weighs 180 g/m2, has a height of 160 cm and is composed of 86% TENCEL and 14% ROICA™ V550. RYON RF: part of the “residual free” (RF) line, the Ryon RF fabric is developed using Sensil Biocare polyamide and ROICA™ V550. This combination is designed to minimize the residual persistence of polyamide and elastomer in the environment.

Lauma Elastic
Lauma Elastic is a brand for quality textile and medical materials with a long heritage and constant innovation. Today Lauma is focused on innovation and committed to introducing environmentally friendly, new technologies into the textiles industry. The company presents its fabric 323309 with Tencel™ (84%) and ROICA™ V550 (16%), weight 165cm x 350g, primarily used for sports and yoga leggings for its characteristics of softness and durability.