From the Sector

International technology group ANDRITZ has delivered, installed, and commissioned a mechanical textile recycling line and an airlay line at Novafiber’s nonwovens production mill in Palín, Guatemala. Both lines have been successfully operating since December 2022.

The recycling line – the second tearing line ANDRITZ supplied to Novafiber – processes post-industrial textile waste from Central America. The recycled fibers feed the latest ANDRITZ Flexiloft airlay line, which produces nonwoven end-products for the bedding and furniture industries – a true example of a circular textile-to-nonwoven approach. The production process ensures complete material use as a state-of-the-art edge trim recycling system returns any waste directly to the tearing and/or airlay line.

This combination of ANDRITZ tearing and airlay lines allows Novafiber to process large amounts of post-industrial garments, controlling the supply chain from raw material to final product. In addition, it enables energy savings and a reduced carbon footprint due to the reduction of shipments.

Based in Palín, Novafiber is a leading company in Guatemala for producing nonwovens from post-industrial textile waste for both the local market and export.

Kelheim Fibres, a leading manufacturer of viscose speciality fibres, has joined Recycling Atelier Augsburg. Recycling Atelier Augsburg is a unique centre for research and development in the field of textile recycling. It is located at the Institut für Textiltechnik Augsburg an affiliated institute of Augsburg University of Applied Sciences. The two institutions founded the Recycling Atelier in June 2022 together with twelve partners from the German textile industry.

In the Recycling Atelier, the focus is on the triad of technical and ecological sense as well as economic benefit. In this way, the partners of the Recycling Atelier are standing up against fast fashion, outsourced corporate responsibility and a general decline in raw material quality, which often fuels downcycling - the low-quality reuse - of materials.

As a model factory, the Recycling Atelier Augsburg combines the most important processes of textile recycling and offers holistic and comprehensive research along the value chain," explains Georg Stegschuster, head of the Recycling Atelier Augsburg. The scientists research on all process steps of textile recycling: from material analysis to sorting, preparation and textile processing to sustainable product design. Comprehensive data collection and the use of artificial intelligence as well as innovative materials play a central role.

Kelheim Fibres is a producer of high-quality viscose fibres, which consist of cellulose, the main component of the renewable raw material wood, and are used worldwide for products in areas such as hygiene, textiles, and technical applications.

"In New Business Development as well as Fibre and Application Development, we follow the Open Innovation concept - the cooperation with the Recycling Atelier offers us an ideal platform for this. Here we work with partners to advance sustainability and performance," explains Maik Thiel, project manager at Kelheim Fibres.

Recycled cotton fibres are often very short or of uneven length, which makes further processing of 100 % recycled material a challenge. Adding speciality fibres from Kelheim Fibres should enable the production of high-quality new products, such as nonwovens. In the future, the fibres provided by Kelheim Fibres will also be made from recycled pulp.

Fibre Extrusion Technology Limited (FET) of Leeds, England, a supplier of laboratory and pilot melt spinning systems, is celebrating a record breaking year of sales and product innovation. “Sales revenue for 2022 has easily beaten our previous high” said FET Managing Director, Richard Slack “and the research projects we have collaborated in have become increasingly challenging in terms of technical specification.”

Prestigious new projects during 2022 included a multifilament melt spinning line for Senbis Polymer Innovations, Netherlands enabling the development of textile fibres from recycled polymers or biopolymers; a FET-200LAB wet spinning system at the University of Manchester which will play a major part in advanced materials research in collaboration with the renowned Henry Royce Institute; and a FET-103 Monofilament line for RHEON LABS of London to help develop a hyper viscoelastic fibre from RHEON™ which displays high strain-rate sensitive properties. The latter two of these examples were aided by significant UK grants to develop advanced materials.

FET is now looking forward to 2023 with a record order book. The company’s newly opened Fibre Development Centre features over £1.5 million investment in customer laboratory systems that will further enable fibre trials and product R&D. Three new polymer types were developed with clients in 2022 and several more are lined up in 2023, which is expected to bring the total of different polymer types to more than 40 in multifilament, monofilament and nonwoven formats.

FET will be exhibiting at two major exhibitions in 2023; INDEX 23, a leading Nonwovens show at Geneva in April; and ITMA, Milan, an international textile and garment technology exhibition in June.

Avgol®, an Indorama Ventures Limited company, has been honoured with the Supplier Excellence Award by leading global brand Procter & Gamble.

The award was in recognition of Avgol, a leader in the manufacture of high-performance nonwoven fabric solutions, ‘being a notable and valuable supplier over the last fiscal year’ to the P&G Baby Care Business Unit.

Avgol CEO Tommi Bjornman said receiving the honour from P&G for the first time is a source of great pride for the company. “The assessment process for the award focuses on us as the supplier showing outstanding contributions across a range of key categories,” he said. “I am delighted and proud that the Avgol team was unanimously identified as being strongest in terms of our collaboration with the customer, as well as in our continuous improvement efforts across all regions of P&G’s global Baby Care program.

“It was heartening that, in making the award, P&G further noted that Avgol’s efforts have significantly assisted in their own commercial growth during a challenging period for the Hygiene market,” he said.

In 2018, Indorama Ventures Limited (IVL), a leading petrochemicals producer and global integrated leader in PET and fibres, acquired majority ownership of Avgol, resulting in a focused and faster growth of Avgol Nonwovens.

“With the combined financial, technical, commercial strength and expertise of Avgol and IVL, Avgol has been working hard to develop innovative products, putting sustainability front and centre in our plans for the future and ensuring we deliver the very best product and service to our customers around the world,” said Tommi Bjornman.

ANDRITZ has organized a customer day fully dedicated to the absorbent hygiene products value chain on November 09, 2022. This event took place at the ANDRITZ Diatec premises in Pescara, Italy, with a variety of key players from the nonwovens industry coming from all over Europe and beyond.

At this event, attendees benefited from live demonstrations of converting lines, market and nonwoven production insights, a panel discussion on sustainability, and networking opportunities, including:

• Recent market situation, trends, and some food for thoughts
• Technology insights for nonwoven roll-good production: Spunjet Soft, Air-Through Bonding, and Spunlace
• Company tour with live demonstration of converting lines
• Panel discussion on sustainability accompanied by important industry players around the value chain

The UK’s new Business Secretary, Grant Shapps has visited the Henry Royce Institute’ hub in Manchester to seal the second phase of R&D investment in the institute of £95 million. Fibre Extrusion Technology Limited (FET) of Leeds, England had previously installed its FET-200LAB wet spinning system at the University of Manchester site and this proved to be a focus for the Business Secretary’s interest, as he discussed the project with FET’s Research and Development Manager, Mark Smith.

This wet spinning technology enables fibres to be derived from sustainable wood pulp to produce high quality apparel and trials are now underway to perfect this process. FET is a world leading supplier of laboratory and pilot melt spinning systems, having successfully processed more than 35 different polymer types in multifilament, monofilament and nonwoven formats.

During his visit, Shapps spoke of the investment programme as a means of reinforcing the UK’s standing as a leader in advanced materials research, development and innovation.

“R&D investment is a critical way to turbocharge Britain’s growth. Growing an economy fit for the future means harnessing the full potential of advanced materials, making science fiction a reality by supporting projects from regenerative medicine to robots developing new recycling capabilities, right across the country. Today’s £95 million investment will do just that, bringing together the brightest minds across our businesses and institutions to help future-proof sectors from healthcare to nuclear energy.”

The Henry Royce Institute was established in 2015 with an initial £235 million government investment through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the latest £95 million sum represents the second phase of the investment.

Opportunities being investigated by Royce include lightweight materials and structures, biomaterials and materials designed for reuse, recycling and remanufacture. Advanced materials are critical to the UK future in various industries, such as health, transport, energy, electronics and utilities.

The Japanese textile brand ECOSENSOR™ by Asahi Kasei Advance continues its eco-high tech path and joins ISPO, the influential fashion and textile fair dedicated to sportwear and athleisure-wear, as part of an Asahi Kasei space within the ISPO Brandnew area, presenting its AW 2024/2025 & SS2024 collections, made of high-tech fabrics implementing new-generation values, with the aim of keeping nature, body and mind in harmony.

2022 is a special time for Asahi Kasei as it celebrates its 100th anniversary. This year at ISPO Munich (28-30^th November), Asahi Kasei Group present its innovation world featuring three of its brands: ECOSENSOR™, ROICA™ and RespiGard™.
 
ECOSENSOR™ presents 47 new references that meet the needs of the contemporary consumer, such as durability, wellbeing and performance. Being capable of combining active climate control, exquisite touch, lightness and comfort with sustainable values, ECOSENSOR™ stands out as a unique eco-high-tech performance proposition in its market. The collection covers the different market applications with 3 items for INNERWEAR, 1 for OUTERWEAR, 13 for SPORT KNIT and 30 for SPORT WOVENS.

New this season is the application of the RespiGard™ by Polypore unique membrane designed for outdoor apparel. Its innovative pore structure is too small for water droplets to penetrate but features high porosity that allows for airflow and moisture evaporation.

In order to show at best the performances and possible applications of the fabrics made with RespiGard™, ECOSENSOR™ will feature at its ISPO space an ad hoc created outfit by the outerwear brand.

Furthermore, the majority of ECOSENSOR™ fabrics are made with sustainable ingredients which are certified by international certifications such as GRS and RCS through a traceable and transparent production process and supply chain.  100% of the stretch articles (representing 35% of the collection) are made with ROICA™ EF by Asahi Kasei, the recycled stretch yarn made from pre-consumer materials. Even the dyeing and finishing phases - key moments for performancewear - have been certified by international labels such as bluesign® or OEKO-TEX® Standard 100.

From 7 – 9 December 2022, Cinte Techtextil China will welcome visitors sourcing solutions for 12 application areas of technical textiles and nonwovens at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai.

A number of countries and regions are represented at the fair’s International Zone, with companies from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the US. Standout international exhibitors include:

• TESTEX, an international, independent Swiss institute which specialises in the testing and certification of textile and leather products. The organisation is a founding member and official representative of the OEKO-TEX® Association, and will present their certification services at the fairground.
• Cotton Council International (CCI) is a non-profit trade association that promotes US cotton fibre and manufactured cotton products, with their COTTON USA™ Mark. At this year’s fair they will showcase cotton spunlace fabric, wipes, kitchen tissues, facial masks, cosmetic removers, and more, with their products particularly applicable to Agrotech, Clothtech, Medtech, and Sporttech.
• Graf + Cie AG is a subsidiary of the Rieter Group, and a leading supplier of clothing for carding and combs for combing machines in the short- and long-staple spinning industry. This year, the Swiss company will showcase stationary flats, and metallic card clothing for roller cards.
• At the returning German Pavilion, buyers can source sought-after technical textiles and nonwovens that are renowned for their quality. The companies and expertise on display at this pavilion are endorsed by the Federal Republic of Germany, with several exhibitors highlighted below:
• Brückner Textile Technologies GmbH & Co KG has developed machinery for the textile industry since 1949. Today, the company offers complete line systems for the dry finishing of both woven and knitted fabric, as well as for technical textiles, glass fibres, and floor coverings.
• Perlon (Zhejiang) Co Ltd is part of a global group of companies that specialises in the manufacture of synthetic filaments, with factories in China, Germany, Poland, and the US. Their products have a diverse range of potential uses, largely categorised in the Agrotech and Indutech application areas.
• IBENA Textilwerke GmbH produces various functional fabrics for Protech. At the fair, the company will be showcasing insulative, flame retardant (FR) textiles for firefighting and search & rescue services. Developed with DuPont™ aramid material, their FR properties will not diminish after washing or repeated use.

This year’s fair also sees the return of the Taiwan Zone. With support from the Taiwan Nonwoven Fabrics Industry Association, the area will showcase a range of industry leading nonwoven products and services, by brands such as KNH Enterprise, Nan Liu Enterprise, Unique Pretty Ind, and Web-Pro Corporation.

As a world’s largest manufacturer of technical textiles, China is home to a vast array of companies responsible for innovative products. Some domestic exhibitors to look out for are:

• CTA Hi-Textiles Co Ltd, a high-tech enterprise controlled by China Textile Science Research Institute. In recent years, the company has developed several new textile composite materials, and their products are widely used in sectors such as national defence, policing and public security, medical protection, and engineering and manufacturing.
• Sateri is one of the world’s largest producers of viscose fibre, with an annual capacity of 1.8 million metric tonnes. At their mills, they make yarn and fibre products applicable to sectors such as beauty, hygiene and personal care, medical, wipes, and protective wear.

To help international buyers stay connected with the Chinese market, Match Plus, the fair’s online business matching platform, will support foreign buyers achieve their sourcing goals despite travel limitations. Further information on Match Plus will be available at a later stage.

The fair’s product categories cover 12 application areas, which comprehensively span a full range of potential uses in modern technical textiles and nonwovens. These categories also cover the entire industry, from upstream technology and raw materials providers to finished fabrics, chemicals and other solutions.

Long-standing BTMA member James Heal is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, the company’s formation dating back to 1872, when it was listed as an oil and tallow merchant and mill furnisher in Yorkshire, UK.

Today, as a testing equipment manufacturer for textiles and nonwovens, James Heal continues to expand its range, with a focus on making testing simple – most notably with the introduction of its Performance Testing collection of instruments, most recently the AirPro and HydroView systems.

AirPro
The new James Heal AirPro air permeability tester is used to test the resistance of the flow of air through woven, knitted and nonwoven textiles. Its software offers flexibility with standards and  comprehensive reporting options and different test head sizes are available, making it suitable for a range of applications and standards

HydroView
The HydroView hydrostatic head tester is meanwhile designed to measure the penetration of water in materials which have an end use that requires water resistance, such as those in the medical, geotextiles and nonwovens sectors. It is also proving essential in the testing of end-use applications for technical textiles, such as in protective gloves, diving dry suits and winter sports apparel, to fishing waders, roofing, tenting, ground sheets and more.

• More ambition and joint European efforts needed

On Friday 30 September, the EU Energy ministers approved a Council Regulation proposal to address high energy prices. The Regulation focusses on the electricity prices and electricity demand reduction, on a solidarity levy from the fossil fuel sector and a retail levy for SMEs. While these initiatives are driven by goodwill, they miss the point of bringing gas prices down – the one measure that would bring the biggest impact on European industry.

EURATEX – as the voice of the European apparel and textiles manufacturers – regrets this lack of ambition: the Regulation does not foresee any meaningful action to directly support the European industry. This can accelerate the de-industrialisation of Europe and loss of industrial capacity to secure the European standard of living and implementing the Green Deal.

“We call on the EU and Member States to pursue our common European interests. The hesitation to adopt a European price cap on natural gas, accompanied by massive national spending programs to subsidise domestic gas consumption, is a dereliction of duty”, said Director General Dirk Vantyghem.

Triggering competition among Member States rather than promoting cooperation in bringing gas prices down for all European companies will also prove ineffective: indeed, the industrial structure in the European Union is fully integrated. Once a segment of the value chain perishes because of the crisis in one country, all companies based in the EU will suffer its negative effect, driving prices up in the supply chain and adding further strain to our operations. The European industry will be saved as a unified industry, or it will not be saved at all. Fragmenting the internal market will not protect any Member State’s domestic manufacturing.

In addition to a EU-wide price cap on gas, EURATEX calls on the European Commission to swiftly amend the Temporary Crisis Framework, making sure the criteria and thresholds applied do not exclude vulnerable companies from possible support (e.g. in textile finishing and services). Euratex also encourages the European Commission to revise the ETS Indirect Carbon Leakage mechanism and include the man-made fibres, non-wovens, spinning and weaving sectors.

It is high time now for the European Union, said the association – in particular for Member States and the Commission – to step up their ambition and adopt a European vision: a chaotic and fragmented approach will not mitigate the crisis but accelerate it.