From the Sector

Circ and Huafon are partnering on a multi-phase textile-to-textile recycling site within Huafon’s industrial footprint in China. 
The plant will use Circ’s process for polycotton waste and recover both major material streams: recycled PTA and MEG for polyester production and recycled cellulosic pulp for new textiles.

Phase one is designed to process approximately 200 metric tonnes of textile waste per day, with additional capacity planned. Huafon will invest in the project and contribute engineering, procurement, logistics and commercial capabilities, while Circ brings its recycling technology and a network of brands, manufacturing partners and downstream customers.

Textination has previously covered Circ partnerships in China, including recycled polyester filament production with Shenghong. This project represents a distinct new development.
It concerns construction of recycling capacity itself rather than downstream yarn conversion. Circ is simultaneously developing its first industrial-scale facility in France.

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, in partnership with International Filtration News, has announced the finalists for the FiltXPO™ 2026 Innovation Awards. The awards recognize innovative new products introduced to the filtration industry since the last FiltXPO event in 2025.

The FiltXPO Innovation Awards celebrate advancements in filtration technology for air and gas and water and liquid applications. Entries are evaluated on creativity, novelty of approach, uniqueness and technical sophistication.

The winners will be announced during FiltXPO 2026, the premier global event for the filtration industry, Oct. 28-29 at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis.

The FiltXPO 2026 Innovation Award finalists are: 

FiltXPO Innovation in Air/Gas Filtration Award 

• Hifyber: CombiNano
• Leanfil Oy: Leanfil®
• Solberg Manufacturing, Inc.: Fully Automated Liquid Management System

 FiltXPO Innovation in Water/Liquid Filtration Award 

• Acuriant Technologies Inc.: CUF Flow - More Water, Same Footprint
• Ahlstrom: Ahlstrom OptiPad™
• Gessner, a Mativ Brand: GESSNER PFAS Filter Media

Voting for the winner in each category is open on the International Filtration News website. Winners will be announced Oct. 28 at FiltXPO 2026.

HTWK Leipzig has launched Blade2Poly with KomRec-ReCond and Schmaus Kunststoffaufbereitung to develop an energy-efficient recycling chain for end-of-life wind-turbine blades. The goal is to recover glass-fibre-reinforced plastics as higher-value secondary raw materials for new injection-moulding applications.

The route starts with material characterisation and categorisation, followed by mechanical processing, intelligent material-flow control and combination of recovered glass fibres with recycled polymers to create post-consumer recycled compounds.

Rotor blades are a demanding circularity case because large, durable composite structures must ultimately be converted into heterogeneous waste streams. Blade2Poly therefore addresses not only size reduction but the quality of recovered material and its compatibility with a new industrial process.

The collaborative R&D project runs from June 2026 to January 2029 under Germany's ZIM programme.

Mood Fabrics has launched a 15-fabric collection with ten-year-old designer Max Alexander. The Mood × Max Alexander line debuted in New York on 14 September and is being sold online and through Mood's U.S. retail locations.

The company lists BCI cotton, EcoVero viscose, European flax linen and recycled-polyester faux fur among the materials. The range combines prints and textured fashion fabrics with several fibre choices already associated with established sourcing or recycling programmes.

Alexander selected and annotated the fabrics. The collaboration therefore starts at material choice, leaving the collection open to further garment design and making rather than presenting a fixed apparel capsule.

Ravel has closed an oversubscribed $8.2 million seed round led by One Small Planet, with participation from AP Ventures, Overlay Capital, Lichen Ventures and existing investors. The funding is intended to move the Seattle-based recycling company from pilot operation towards commercial readiness.

Its Purification Recycling process is aimed at one of apparel recycling's persistent problems: stretch blends. Elastane is widely used in activewear, denim, underwear and other garments, yet even relatively small percentages can interfere with established recycling routes.

Rather than treating the whole textile as a single feedstock, Ravel is developing a separation and purification route for polyester/elastane blends. The company says recovered material can be converted into recycled plastic pellets for renewed use as a raw material.

The next phase will test more than chemistry. Commercial viability depends on throughput, feedstock variability, separation efficiency, energy and chemical inputs, and the quality of the recovered fractions. Ravel plans to validate the process at production scale with textile partners.

The financing adds capacity at a point where recyclers are increasingly trying to tackle blends that mechanical systems cannot readily return to fibre.

Archroma and Portuguese home-textile manufacturer Lameirinho have moved the InOneGO continuous dyeing process into commercial production. Lameirinho's first bed-linen collection made with the technology is now available worldwide.

InOneGO combines coloration, fixation and softening in a single pad-dry application. It was developed for woven cellulosic textiles including denim, fashion fabrics and home textiles, and works with Archroma sulfur-dye systems including DIRESUL RDT, EarthColors and FiberColors.

Archroma's ONE WAY Impact Calculator indicates reductions of up to 81% in process time, 97% in water consumption, 65% in energy use and 75% in CO2 emissions when a defined InOneGO/DIRESUL RDT scenario is compared with conventional cold pad-batch reactive dyeing plus pigment top-dye finishing. These are supplier calculations for a specified benchmark, not universal mill values.

The process runs on stenter and Thermosol lines. That makes the industrial proposition particularly relevant: mills may be able to remove several wet and dry processing stages without replacing the core line architecture.

As mandatory sustainability and due diligence regulations multiply, global brands managing complex, multi-tier supply chains face a widening gap between the data they collect and their ability to understand and act on it at scale. TrusTrace, a global leader in supply chain traceability and compliance, today announced the launch of a new platform built to close that gap. 
 
The new platform builds on TrusTrace's enterprise-proven traceability and compliance foundation, making supply chain data directly accessible for insight and decision-making while automating the multi-step programs that act on it. Teams can understand what needs attention faster and automate operational work, from assessments and evidence collection through to follow-up and corrective action. 
 
At the foundation is TrusTrace's real-time, lot-level forward traceability with AI-powered backward chain-of-custody data, across materials and sourcing models, providing the complete and trustworthy data needed to generate meaningful intelligence.
 
“Every regulation ultimately asks the same question: can you prove it? But proving compliance starts much earlier, with understanding your supply chain, knowing where the gaps are and acting before they become problems,” said Shameek Ghosh, CEO and Co-Founder of TrusTrace.
 
The platform rolls out in phases starting this month and has been built and validated over the past year with a number of the world's leading brands. Its first focus is Supply Chain Intelligence: brands can ask questions in natural language across suppliers, facilities, products, materials, and supply chain relationships, surfacing gaps and patterns and generating insights and reports in seconds. 
 
Over subsequent phases, TrusTrace will strengthen this further by adding regulatory intelligence and enterprise intelligence, connecting external regulatory requirements and brands' own policies and standards with their supply chain data, so brands can understand which requirements impact them, identify gaps earlier, and act before they become compliance failures. 
 
Alongside Supply Chain Intelligence, TrusTrace is introducing a program builder and orchestrator that automates the workflows behind Supplier Compliance, TrusTrace's existing solution for managing whether suppliers meet a brand's requirements. Brands can now run vendor onboarding, continuous supplier monitoring, assessments, evidence requests, follow-ups, and corrective actions automatically, replacing manual, repetitive work with a system that runs on the brand's own data.
 
Supply Chain Intelligence is one of three connected solution areas on the TrusTrace platform. Supplier Compliance manages whether suppliers meet a brand's requirements; Supply Chain Intelligence helps brands understand their supply chain, identify what needs attention, and make better-informed decisions; and Product Compliance determines whether a specific product meets applicable requirements and provides the evidence needed to prove it. This launch introduces Supply Chain Intelligence, the newest addition to the platform, along with the automation capabilities that connect all three. 
 
The new platform is built around four pillars: 

• One unified data foundation: Suppliers submit data once, in any format or language, and TrusTrace extracts, validates, and links it into one trusted foundation. Data and evidence can be reused across use cases, reducing duplicate requests and supplier fatigue. 
• Supply Chain Intelligence: Brands can ask questions about their suppliers, facilities, products, materials and supply chain relationships, as described above, and receive live insights and reports grounded in their own TrusTrace data. Regulatory, enterprise and risk intelligence will add further context as the platform evolves.
• Automated operations: A program builder and orchestrator help brands build and run multi-step workflows such as vendor onboarding and continuous supplier monitoring, automating assessments, evidence requests, follow-ups and corrective actions across the supplier base. 
• One connected compliance platform: TrusTrace brings supplier requirements, regulatory obligations, and product compliance together on one platform, powered by the same supply chain data and evidence foundation. Information can be reused across requirements and programs, reducing duplication for both brands and suppliers. 

AI runs throughout the platform, from data extraction and validation to natural-language access to supply chain information and the automation of multi-step programs, so both brands and their suppliers spend less time on manual work and more time acting on insights they can stand behind. 
 
A new program can go live in as little as three days, with the first supplier data request sent in week one. TrusTrace's data foundation spans more than 120,000 suppliers across more than 80 countries. 
 
The new platform is designed for brands of every size, from global enterprises to mid-sized companies scaling compliance programs with lean teams, with further intelligence and automation capabilities to follow as the rollout continues. 
 

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, announced today that Ben Muller has joined the association as executive director. Mr. Muller brings more than 20 years of progressive leadership experience spanning nonprofit organizations, corporations and trade associations.

Most recently, Mr. Muller served on the senior executive team of the High Point Market Authority, where he led marketing, public relations and educational programming for one of the world’s largest trade shows. Previously, he held senior brand and marketing leadership positions with Hanesbrands and Kayser-Roth, gaining extensive experience in textile and apparel supply chains. He began his career serving mission-driven organizations, including the American Cancer Society and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Tony Fragnito, INDA’s current president and CEO, will transition to an executive consultant role in January 2027 to support the leadership transition and focus on projects and initiatives designed to expand the reach and participation of the Global Nonwovens Alliance (GNA). His planned retirement will occur in December 2027.

The creation of the executive director position follows the formation of the GNA by INDA and EDANA and represents the next step in the evolution of INDA’s staff leadership to support the alliance. Mr. Muller’s broad leadership experience, strategic marketing expertise and deep understanding of member and industry engagement will be valuable as he leads INDA’s strategic initiatives, oversees operations and represents the interests of the nonwovens industry across the Americas.

“I am honored to join INDA at such a pivotal moment for the industry,” said Mr. Muller. “The formation of the Global Nonwovens Alliance creates an exciting opportunity to strengthen collaboration and expand the value we provide to members. I look forward to listening to our members, learning from their expertise and ensuring INDA continues to be a strong advocate and resource for the industry throughout the Americas.”

“Tony has provided outstanding leadership to INDA during a transformational period for both the association and the global nonwovens industry,” said Mark A. Thornton, chair of the INDA Board of Directors and vice president, Baby Care, Fem Care and Family Care Quality Assurance, The Procter & Gamble Company. “The Board is deeply appreciative of his leadership, commitment to our members and role in helping establish the Global Nonwovens Alliance. As we look ahead, we are confident Ben brings the strategic thinking, industry experience and collaborative leadership needed to build on that strong foundation and guide INDA into its next chapter.”

“Ben’s appointment represents an important step in bringing the vision of the Global Nonwovens Alliance to life,” said Murat Dogru, CEO, GNA. “The strength of the Alliance will depend on combining a truly global perspective with strong regional leadership that understands the priorities of its members. I am very pleased to welcome him and look forward to working closely together as we build the next chapter of the Alliance.”

“Leading INDA has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career, and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with such a dedicated staff, Board, and membership,” said Fragnito. “It has been a meaningful way to cap off my career, and I look forward to working closely with Ben to ensure a seamless transition of INDA’s business operations and member relationships. I am excited to support him as he helps lead INDA and a partner with Murat as he leads the Global Nonwovens Alliance.”

Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles – Autumn Edition reports more than 900 exhibitors from 19 countries and regions and nearly 36,000 visitors representing 113 markets. The show covered more than 100,000 square metres and included bedding, upholstery fabrics, curtains, carpets and design-led collections.

Messe Frankfurt says sustainability, new technologies and supply-chain transparency were increasingly visible in buying discussions. Exhibitors presented established sourcing categories alongside functional textiles, more sustainable materials and technology-enabled solutions. Buyer representation was especially strong from Greater China and Southeast Asia, with growing participation from Central Asia.

The fringe programme also moved beyond trend forecasting into operational questions. Sessions covered AI implementation in the home-textile sector, urban renewal, product development, changing lifestyles and opportunities in Latin America. The mix suggests that home-textile sourcing is becoming more closely linked to material innovation, digital tools and verifiable sustainability requirements.

Editorial relevance: Medium – a current brand-positioning and retail story supported by a product capsule.
s.Oliver has launched a new hero campaign, “Casual Since Forever,” featuring Heidi Klum meeting a younger version of herself from the 1990s. The concept uses the time shift to reinforce the brand’s positioning around enduring casual style.

The campaign is accompanied by a limited-edition vintage capsule that reinterprets 1990s references through casual basics and vintage-inspired designs. The pieces are being sold online and in selected s.Oliver stores, turning the campaign narrative into an immediate product and retail activation.

Established fashion brands increasingly use archive aesthetics and cultural nostalgia not only for communication but as a direct product-development and traffic-driving mechanism.