From the Sector

• Complete fibre portfolio for geotextiles, hygiene & wipes, floor coverings, automotive, upholstery, filtration, RTM and construction
• Increasing nonwoven & engineered fabric performance with new fibres that reduce carbon footprint & support design for recycling
• Exploring new possibilities for collaboration using BFI’s expertise, pilot line and equipment

 Beaulieu Fibres International, the largest and most differentiated European staple fibre producer, turns the spotlight on future-focused solutions for nonwovens & engineered fabrics at IDEA®22, 28-31 March. A key priority is innovation in polyolefin and BICO fibres to advance sustainable design, end-of-life recyclability, and resource and carbon footprint reduction for industrial and hygiene applications.

Sustainability is key to Beaulieu Fibre International’s long-term strategy, and the company is heavily focused on defining its green portfolio to support evolution in diverse market applications.

Bio-based fibres
From June 2022, Beaulieu Fibres International will offer ISCC+ certification on mono-PP and BICO PP/PE fibres. The fibres will be offered in 1,3-8,9 dtex and will be available with all the main available finish classes (ie. hydrophilic, hydrophobic, etc.) suitable for the main carding and consolidation technologies. These drop-in solutions with no loss in quality will support customers looking to reduce reliance on virgin fossil carbon in their nonwoven and engineered fibre applications. The bio-based fibres enable customers to contribute to the transition towards a circular economy.

Achieving material savings
For customers in industrial segments like geotextiles, high-tenacity HT8 staple fibres enable customers to achieve nonwovens for construction projects with high mechanical performance but with 15% less weight. The durability of the fibres means that customers can use less raw material for a longer service lifetime, supporting more sustainable design in addition to resource reduction.
For hygiene nonwovens, the Meralux fibres provide significant sustainable design advantages. Meralux fibres deliver substantial sustainability benefits including around 55% savings in raw materials, with equivalent carbon emission savings. These emission savings are thanks to weight reduction in nonwovens with the same coverage level and also the higher recyclability of PP/PE compared to BICO materials.

• INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, today announced six new board members and its 2022 slate of officers to guide the success of the nonwovens industry and its members.

Elected by the INDA membership to three-year terms that began on March 1, the new board members bring a high level of diverse expertise and insight to the management of the association as it moves forward with its vibrant growth.

“I am delighted to welcome such a strong group of new board members who bring deep industry knowledge and insights to provide strategic stewardship for our association,” said Dave Rousse, INDA President. “We look forward to working with them to advance INDA’s new value proposition to enhance our industry’s leadership position and deliver greater value to our members.”

The new board members are from global leaders Lenzing Group, Bast Fibre Technologies, Reifenhauser Reicofil, Rockline Industries, Hollingsworth & Vose Company and Principle Business Enterprises.  

INDA also announced Bryan Haynes, Ph.D., R&E Technical Director Kimberly-Clark, has been named Chairman of the Board. Barbara Lawless, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Medical Products, Precision Fabrics Group, Inc. has been elected Vice Chair of Finance, and Richard Altice, President and CEO of NatureWorks, has been appointed to INDA’s Executive Committee.

The new board members are:

• Jürgen Eizinger, Senior Commercial Director, Nonwovens Business EU/AM/MEA, Lenzing Group

Eizinger has nearly 20 years of fiber industry experience. He has been with the Lenzing Group since 2001 and most recently was Vice President of the Global Nonwoven Business. He has worked at multiple locations around the world and held various commercial, engineering and technical customer services roles.

• Jim Posa, President and General Manager, Bast Fibre Technologies, Inc.

Posa has 30-plus years of nonwovens experience and has successfully led businesses from startups to some of the largest companies in the nonwovens market. He has developed and implemented strategic business, development, operational and acquisition growth plans. His teams have worked with businesses focused on most of the major end use markets such as hygiene, wipes, filtration, medical and industrial. As a senior executive, Posa has led global businesses at Fiberweb, BP/Amoco, CEO of a Nisseki/Amoco joint venture (ANCI), Lydall, and Nitto America. A long-time INDA supporter, he has previously served on committees and as a Board member.

• Markus Mueller – Sales Director and Board Member, Reifenhauser Reicofil

Mueller brings to the INDA Board 35 years of experience with Reifenhauser in the nonwovens and film industries. His experience has included roles as PLC Engineer, Commissioning Engineer, Project Manager and Sales Manager. Mueller has extensive knowledge of the global hygiene and medical nonwovens markets. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Cologne.

• Matt Koele, Director of Global Materials Development, Rockline Industries

Koele is based at Rockline’s headquarters in Sheboygan, WI.  Before joining Rockline in 2012, he has held several business and Research and Development (R&D) leadership positions at SC Johnson and Kimberly-Clark Corporation. An inventor with over 10 patents, Koele is a magna cum laude graduate of Michigan Technological University in Chemical Engineering.

• Mike Clark, President, Filtration Solutions, Hollingsworth & Vose Company

Clark joined H&V in 2003 and has held numerous leadership positions in the U.S. and Germany. He previously served as the President of the High Efficiency and Specialty Filtration Division from 2009 to 2020.  Before joining H&V, Clark was a strategy consultant for eight years working with Fortune 100 manufacturing companies. He holds a bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

• Andrew Stocking, Ph.D., President and CEO, Principle Business Enterprises, Inc. (PBE)

Stocking joined PBE in 2017 after a career in engineering, technology, nonprofits and government. He was named President and COO in 2018, then President and CEO in 2020, becoming the third-generation leader of the family-owned organization. He previously held roles in the private sector and within federal government offices, including the Department of Energy and Congressional Budget Office. He earned a BS in Chemical Engineering and an MS in Civil Engineering from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Resource Economics from the University of Maryland.

The 21-member board is comprised of elected Board Officers. One-third of the entire Board is elected each year for a three-year term by a majority vote of INDA’s general membership. INDA’s Executive Committee, empowered to act on behalf of the Board between meetings, consists of the Board Officers plus four appointees.

International technology group ANDRITZ has received an order from Welspun Advanced Materials, India, to deliver a complete neXline spunlace line for the production of nonwoven roll goods and wipes for their new plant in Hyderabad, Telangana. The line has a capacity of up to three tons per hour. Start-up of the line is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2021.

The ANDRITZ high-capacity spunlace line will process various types of synthetic or natural fibers, such as polyester, viscose and cotton. The final products will have fabric weights ranging from 25 to 120 gsm, thus covering many applications. This neXline spunlace line also offers the option to integrate a third component from a selection of smart layers, enabling Welspun to also manufacture products for the health care and hygiene sectors.

Welspun is the largest global exporter of home textiles. Innovation and quality lie at the heart of the company’s success, which already has nonwoven production lines in operation, including needlepunch and spunlace equipment. With its new plant in Telangana, Welspun will significantly increase its existing spunlace capacity and also maintain a broad range of applications as the final products are used in hygiene, home care and industrial cleaning. The new, advanced facility is a 100,000 sqm greenfield development that is part of a larger 1,500,000 sqm industrial complex also accommodating the Welspun floorings facility.

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.

Suominen has launched a second nonwoven product, HYDRASPUN® Regal, that has received the Fine to Flush Manufacturer’s Generic Certificate from Water UK. HYDRASPUN® Regal was developed to meet the increasing need for flushable wipes that are dispersible according to the Water UK’s flushability standard.

HYDRASPUN® Regal is made of plastic free and biodegradable raw materials, containing only cellulosic fibers. It also has a low-level carbon footprint due to its high pulp content.

Suominen was one of the first nonwoven substrate manufacturers to receive the Fine to Flush Manufacturer’s Generic Certificate from Water UK. The first certification was granted for HYDRASPUN® Royal in Spring 2020.

• The success story of cellulose fibres continues - plastic bans drive innovation – 300 participants and 30 exhibitors are expected in-person and online
• 2-3 February, Cologne (Germany), hybrid event

Cellulose fibres are among the winners of the European 'Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD)', which has been in effect since July 2021 and entails plastic bans for a variety of single-use products. Cellulose is the main component of plant cell walls and a natural polymer. As a result, disposable products made of cellulose and cellulose fibres are not labelled as plastic and are explicitly excluded from the regulation. The success story of cellulose fibres will thus continue at a rapid pace with new developments and applications. Building on the success of this year's conference with 200 participants, the International Conference on Cellulose Fibres 2022 will again cover the entire value chain, from lignocellulose, chemical pulp, cellulose fibres such as rayon, viscose, modal or lyocell and new developments to a wide range of applications: Textiles of all kinds, nonwovens such as wet wipes and new areas such as composites or nanocellulose in the food industry. All these sectors have gained considerable momentum in recent years.

Cellulose fibres have been a success story within the textile market with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 5 and 10 % over the last ten years and similar growth rates are expected in the coming decade. This makes cellulosic fibres the fastest growing fibre group in the textile industry and also the largest investment sector in the global bioeconomy.  The challenge now is to achieve a balance between the ongoing capacity expansion and the growing demand, to avoid overcapacity while still meeting rising demand from the major brands. These high growth rates are driven by the increased demand for natural fibres (and bottlenecks in cotton production), the microplastic issues, and bans on plastics in disposable applications. All three factors will continue to play an important role in the development of the sector in the future.

Focus of the conference

• Impact of plastic-bans on single-use products
• Transformation from fossil to renewable raw materials
• Challenges in developing new value chains
• Alternative raw materials for cellulose fibres
• Latest technology and market trends
• Market dynamics and stakeholders in the cellulose sector
• New ecosystems and partnerships
• Development of political environment
• Improvement of sustainability in production

Companies are now invited to submit presentations as well as their latest developments for the Innovation Award.

Call for Abstracts and Posters
Abstract submission is open now. Latest products, technologies, developments or market trends are welcome.
Deadline for submission: 15 October 2021

• International Conference on Cellulose Fibres 2022, 2-3 February in Cologne, Germany and online – Call for Abstracts and Posters – 300 participants and 30 exhibitors are expected

Cellulose fibres are among the winners of the European 'Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD)', which has been in effect since July 2021 and entails plastic bans for a variety of single-use products. Cellulose is the main component of plant cell walls and a natural polymer. As a result, disposable products made of cellulose and cellulose fibres are not labelled as plastic and are explicitly excluded from the regulation. The success story of cellulose fibres will thus continue at a rapid pace with new developments and applications.

Building on the success of this year's conference with 200 participants, the International Conference on Cellulose Fibres 2022 will again cover the entire value chain, from lignocellulose, chemical pulp, cellulose fibres such as rayon, viscose, modal or lyocell and new developments to a wide range of applications: Textiles of all kinds, nonwovens such as wet wipes and new areas such as composites or nanocellulose in the food industry. All these sectors have gained considerable momentum in recent years.

Cellulose fibres have been a success story within the textile market with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 5 and 10 % over the last ten years and similar growth rates are expected in the coming decade. This makes cellulosic fibres the fastest growing fibre group in the textile industry and also the largest investment sector in the global bioeconomy. The challenge now is to achieve a balance between the ongoing capacity expansion and the growing demand, to avoid overcapacity while still meeting rising demand from the major brands. These high growth rates are driven by the increased demand for natural fibres (and bottlenecks in cotton production), the microplastic issues, and bans on plastics in disposable applications. All three factors will continue to play an important role in the development of the sector in the future.

Companies are now invited to submit presentations as well as their latest developments for the Innovation Award.

Main topics of the conference:

• What is the impact of plastic bans on single-use products?
• The avoidance of microplastics and the transformation from fossil to renewable raw materials?
• What are the biggest challenges in developing new value chains and growing market demand?
• Which alternative raw materials for cellulose fibres are suitable and available?
• What are the latest technology and market trends?
• What are the future market dynamics? Who is active and interested in the cellulose fibre sector?
• What ecosystems and partnerships are needed to promote innovation in line with new market requirements?
• How will the political environment develop in the future?
• How can the sustainability of cellulose fibre production be further improved?

 
Call for Abstracts
Abstract submission is open now. You are welcome to present your latest products, technologies, developments or market trends. Submit your abstract as soon as possible.
Deadline for submission: 15 October 2021
https://cellulose-fibres.eu/call-for-abstracts

Call for Posters
Deadline for submission: 31 December 2021
https://cellulose-fibres.eu/call-for-posters

Call for Innovations
More information about the innovation award and the application can be found at
Deadline for submission: 15 November 2021
https://cellulose-fibres.eu/award-application

Sponsoring Opportunities: https://cellulose-fibres.eu/sponsoring

• ANDRITZ receives an additional order for a high-speed spunlace line from Zhejiang Kingsafe, China

International technology Group ANDRITZ has received an order from Zhejiang Kingsafe Hygiene Materials Technology Co., Ltd. in Hezhou, China, to supply a complete new neXline spunlace line. The line is scheduled for installation and start-up during the second quarter of 2022.

This high-capacity spunlace eXcelle line will process either 100% biodegradable fibers or blends of polyester and viscose. It is dedicated to the production of hygiene and medical fabrics. The final products will have fabric weights ranging from 30 to 100 gsm, and the annual production capacity will be up to 18,000 tons.

ANDRITZ will deliver a complete line, from web forming to drying, also integrating two high-speed TT cards, the well-known JetlaceEssentiel hydroentanglement unit and the neXdry through-air dryer equipped with a neXecodry S1 system for energy saving. This combination is becoming the market benchmark for the production of lightweight spunlace fabrics dedicated to the hygiene market.

“We are proud to operate ANDRITZ nonwoven lines, which are very reliable and efficient. It helps us a lot in producing top-of-the-range, nonwoven roll goods, thus enabling us to be recognized as a key player among nonwovens producers worldwide,” says Kingsafe’s president, Mr. Huarong Yan.

Zhejiang Kingsafe Hygiene Materials Technology Co., Ltd., founded in 1987, is one of the largest companies in China producing spunlace and spunbond nonwoven roll goods, with several spunlace lines already in operation. The final products are exported all over the world and used in many fields, such as the medical sector, health care, high-tech agriculture, and high-quality consumer and household products.

The new line is now the ninth spunlace line supplied by ANDRITZ and the third with high-speed TT cards, thus confirming the successful, long-term partnership between ANDRITZ and Zhejiang Kingsafe. The order also proves that the solution provided by ANDRITZ is recognized as the benchmark for production of premium spunlace roll goods and contains the perfect combination for wipes converting machines.