From the Sector

“From Earth to Earth”: The new plan defines goals and concrete actions in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) areas to foster value creation for all stakeholders and put new sustainability regulatory requirements at the centre of attention.

A project, designed to enhance RadiciGroup's transparency and commitment to develop a responsible business along its entire value chain from an economic, social and environmental perspective and focus on the ever more widespread and stringent sustainability regulatory requirements. These are the features and goals of the Sustainability Plan presented by the Group and called "From Earth to Earth", precisely to emphasize the intent to focus on the Earth and future generations.

In the context of a complex and constantly changing scenario, the Group has therefore decided to capitalize on the goals achieved and look beyond them with a plan defining the medium-term targets and the actions to be taken to fulfil them and covering all areas considered to be "material”, i.e., relevant from the point of view of ESG and financial risks, opportunities and impacts. Indeed, the ultimate goal of "From Earth to Earth" is to support business continuity and the growth of the company and all its stakeholders.

The project was the result of a multi-year collaboration with Deloitte, which contributed an external and objective viewpoint on the definition of the material targets and themes. However, it was not an armchair exercise, but the result of an extensive listening process involving internal and external stakeholders, all of whom were sustainability experts who helped define a shortlist of strategic themes for both the Group and its main stakeholders. These issues were then analysed in detail using working tables on the different themes to identify the objectives in Environmental, Social and Governance areas and the related concrete actions needed to achieve them, in line with the European decarbonization and energy transition policies and the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a global blueprint for sustainable growth.

In particular, RadiciGroup’s environmental goals include: a 20% increase and differentiation in renewable source electricity consumption, an 80% reduction in total direct greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 2011, attention to water consumption to limit the impact on local communities and biodiversity, the extension of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to measure the environmental impact of 70% of the products (in terms of weight) manufactured by the entire Group, collaboration among the various actors in the supply chain from an ecodesign perspective and the search for increasingly more sustainable and circular packaging solutions.

Archroma has made its AVITERA® SE technology accessible to more brands and mills with the launch of AVITERA® SE GENERATION NEXT for more cost-effective sustainable dyeing of cellulosic fibers and blends.

With an improved cost-to-performance ratio for new dark and extra-dark shades, the AVITERA® SE GENERATION NEXT range helps mills produce differentiated end articles that comply with the environmental requirements of leading brands and retailers while increasing yield, improving productivity and reducing processing costs.

With high-speed low-temperature wash-off, high process reliability and great reproducibility, AVITERA® SE Generation Next allows mills to achieve water and energy savings of up to 50% and to slash CO₂ emissions and effluent discharge by up to 50% as well. It can also increase mill output by up to 25% or more. The dyes are free from arylamines, including PCA^[1], and offer fastness properties, retaining their colors through repeated home laundering and exposure to light, perspiration and chlorine.

Three new dark colors have been added to the AVITERA® SE range:

• AVITERA® BLACK PEARL SE: A greenish-cast black dye with high color consistency that can be used to correct metamerism.
• AVITERA® BLUE HORIZON SE: A deep blue element with good light fastness in medium to deep shades, as well as high oxidative fastness and high resistance to nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the atmosphere.
• AVITERA® NIGHT STORM SE: A new navy shade with a greenish cast and strong build up. It is recommended for dyeing the deepest navy and combination shades.

^[1] Non-detectable on the garment

• EBITDA of around EUR 300 million expected for 2023
• Non-cash impairment losses of up to EUR 480 million
• Implementation of the performance program fully on track

The annual valuation of assets in accordance with IFRS for the entire Lenzing Group both nationally in Austria and internationally, has resulted in a projected asset impairment of up to EUR 480 million for the 2023 financial year.¹ The reasons for the impairment requirements are, on the one hand, continued uncertainties in the economic environment and, on the other hand, still increased raw material and energy costs as well as a higher interest rate environment.

The impairment losses are non-cash effective and have no impact on the full-year EBITDA for 2023, but do affect EBIT for the 2023 financial year. The Managing Board is specifying the previous earnings forecast for the 2023 financial year (EBITDA: EUR 270 – 330 million) and expects an EBITDA of around EUR 300 million.

Stephan Sielaff, Chief Executive Officer of the Lenzing Group: “In the third quarter of 2023, we responded to the persistently difficult market environment and launched a comprehensive performance program, which we have been consistently implementing since then with a focus on positive free cash flow and stronger sales and margin growth. We can therefore confirm our earnings forecast with an EBITDA of around EUR 300 million. The valuation adjustment in accordance with IFRS does not change the strategic orientation of the Lenzing Group.”

Nico Reiner, Chief Financial Officer, adds: “The implementation of the performance program is going according to plan. In the future, cost measures alone are expected to contribute more than EUR 100 million to earnings annually, of which more than EUR 50 million will already be effective for the 2024 financial year. We are on target, particularly in terms of strengthening free cash flow, and we also achieved positive free cash flow in the fourth quarter. The revaluation of assets is now consistent and the right step for the future direction.”

The 2023 annual results will be presented on March 15, 2024.
 

¹ Subject to potential changes resulting from the ongoing financial audit

Archroma is showcasing its planet conscious innovations and solution systems at this year’s Colombiatex de Las Américas, being held from January 23 to 25, 2024.

Archroma is using its attendance at Colombiatex 2024 to introduce a new concept that promises to help the region’s brands and mills optimize their productivity, add value to their products and create a positive impact on the environment: Super Systems+.

The Super Systems+ solutions offer great performance, including end-product durability, while meeting sustainability targets with cleaner chemistries that comply with current and anticipated industry regulations or deliver resource savings, or both. Solutions are currently available for popular end-use segments, from denim to cotton and poly-cotton knits.

For black denim with a cleaner environmental footprint, brands and mills can choose DIRESUL® EVOLUTION BLACK to create unique shade and wash-down effects with an overall impact reduction of 57% compared to standard Sulfur Black 1 liquid.* For authentic blue denim, Archroma’s aniline-free** pre-reduced DENISOL® PURE INDIGO 30 LIQ produces coveted indigo colors with the same performance and efficiency as conventional indigo dye, but in a more planet-friendly way.

To embrace circularity and create natural shades on cellulosic-based fibers including cotton, kapok, linen and viscose, brand owners can now turn to Archroma’s patented EarthColors® technology. It makes high-performance biosynthetic dyes from non-edible natural waste, such as almond shells, bitter orange residues and cotton production byproducts, helping conserve natural resources. For next-generation processing of polyester and its blends, Archroma’s ERIOPON® E3-SAVE all-in-one auxiliary combines pre-scouring, dyeing and reduction clearing in a single bath to achieve substantial savings of water, energy and time.

For weather protection and stain resistance that is both economically and environmentally sustainable, Archroma Super Systems+ draw on an extensive portfolio of fluorine-free durable water repellents.

* Ecotarrae lifecycle analysis
** Below limits of detection according to industry standard test methods

The report details sustainability efforts at its Boennigheim headquarters and targets for 2024. Hohenstein has replaced previous environmental guidelines with strategic development in accordance with Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) and adopted a sustainability roadmap for the future.

Hohenstein has been implementing environmental and social measures for decades. As the first neutral assessment of these measures in 2019, Hohenstein participated in the ECOfit programme in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. A regular external assessment is to be introduced in 2024.

• Environmental: Overall, energy consumption was actively reduced, and renewable energy use promoted. Hohenstein also collected rail and air travel data to be used in CO2 accounting in 2024.
• Social: Hohenstein actively involved its employees in sustainability activities based on a survey and internal education. In future, Hohenstein will improve the ratio of female managers and implement a training campaign on the company values for employees.
• Governance: Hohenstein management has prioritized good communication through regular colloquia for employees and access to human resources consultation. They intend to intensify the dialogue with employees through further events.

Monforts' new Montex 8500 stenter line was recently installed at Curt Bauer’s plant in Aue in Germany.

Curt Bauer has been in continuous operation for 150 years, beginning as a weaving mill in Aue in the Ore Mountains region of Saxony back in 1882. Today, with 120 employees, the company has an annual production of 2.2 million metres of fabric and specialises in three key fields – home textiles, special damask fabrics for West African garments and technical textiles.

A first Montex stenter was installed by Monforts at the Aue plant in 2003 and an older machine from a third party supplier was also still in operation prior to the latest upgrade.
“The replacement of our older existing stenter, which was installed in 1985, was long overdue,” explains Gert Bauer. “It had a maximum working width of 2.2 metres and we were looking to both increase productivity and reduce energy requirements.”

As a consequence, the company opted for a new Montex 8500 line with a working width of 3.2 metres equipped with the MonforClean heat recovery and exhaust air purification system. The Montex stenter remains unmatched in terms of its robustness and long service life and with MonforClean technology, the waste heat from the drying process is used to pre-heat the drying air. This results in a radical reduction in the conventional heat supply required, compared to full gas and thermal oil heating. Overall energy savings of up to 40% can now be achieved compared to conventional stenters.

The first challenge at the Aue plant was how to fit the significantly larger machine into the available space without restricting the area required for docking operations.

The special multi-level configuration that Monforts designers and Curt Bauer’s team devised in order to meet these requirements involved raising all of the line’s drying zones – with a combined length of over 28 metres – on scaffolding platforms, to enable the ground floor space below them to continue to be fully utilised.

The next challenge involved configuring the MonforClean system without having to make any costly changes to the roofing structure. This, Gert Bauer observes, demanded “millimetre precision”.

With the new line now fully operational, the savings it is providing have yet to be fully calculated.

SGL Carbon relies on climate-friendly manufacturing processes in the production of its own carbon fibers. By using renewable energy, the carbon footprint of SGL fiber can be reduced by up to 50% compared to a conventional fiber.  

SGL carbon fiber is produced at the Lavradio (Portugal) and Moses Lake (USA) sites. When the Moses Lake site was selected in the 1990s, the use of hydropower as an energy source played a particularly decisive role. As a result, around 75,000 tonnes of CO₂ can be saved in Moses Lake by purchasing electricity from hydropower plants compared to a fossil fuel-based electricity mix.

As part of the consistent implementation of its climate strategy, SGL Carbon will be using a CO₂-neutral biomass system to generate energy from the beginning of 2024, which will make the production system, which was previously based on natural gas, more flexible and climate-friendly. At full capacity, the biomass system in Lavradio can save more than 90,000 tons of CO₂.

The raw material used is wood pellets, which are sourced from a radius of 250 kilometres via short transport routes.

The climate-friendly energy supply at the site in Moses Lake (USA) combined with the new biomass plant in Lavradio (Portugal) lead to a reduction in CO₂ emissions of up to 50% in the production of SGL's own carbon fibers compared to conventional fibers. With the investment in the biomass system, SGL Carbon is pursuing its climate strategy. The target is to save 50% CO₂ emissions by the end of 2025 compared to the base year 2019 and to be climate-neutral by the end of 2038. In the period 2019 to 2022, SGL Carbon has reduced its CO₂ emissions by 17%.

This year’s edition of ITMA ASIA + CITME proved to be a success for the exhibiting VDMA member companies. Measured by booked square metres, Germany had the largest contingent, among the foreign exhibitors. More than 40 VDMA member companies were exhibiting their innovative products in Shanghai.

Dr. Janpeter Horn, chairman of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association noted: “Although facing a difficult market situation, this year’s edition of ITMA ASIA + CITME has exceeded the expectations, both in terms of the number of visitors and the quality of the talks. The significant number of foreign visitors to the fair was particularly pleasing.”

Solutions were demonstrated for more sustainable textile productions by most of the exhibitors, and here the VDMA members presented their technologies for saving water, energy and raw materials under the heading “Smart technologies for green textile production.”  

Dr. Uwe Rondé, CEO, Saurer Intelligent Technology AG explained: “Saurer is satisfied with both the number of visitors and the quality of the discussions. Our booth was full from morning to evening with customers focused on latest technologies within the three mega trends: recycling, automation and digitalisation. Although machine utilisation in the spinning mills is still well below average, people are already gathering information and thinking about what to invest in once the market recovers.”

Benjamin Reiners, owner of Reiners + Fürst stated: „This year’s ITMA ASIA + CITME has exceeded our expectations by far. Especially the first day - a Sunday - has brought many high-quality customers and exclusively decision makers to our booth. We estimate about 20% international customers mainly from Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. All customers agreed that the market situation at the moment is difficult, capacity usage is between 50-75% in the ring spinning sector and improvement is expected not before the 2nd half of 2024. Nevertheless the general spirit is very positive.“

“This ITMA ASIA was a great success for Trützschler. We welcomed a large number of Chinese visitors to our booth, as well as a significant number of interested international visitors”, said Dr. Bettina Temath, Head of Global Marketing Trützschler Group SE.

Georg Stausberg, CEO of the polymer processing solutions division and chief sustainability officer of the Oerlikon Group stated: „We can look back on a successful show where we were able to meet many of our customers not only from China, but also from Pakistan, India and Indonesia, for example.”

“A very well-attended trade fair, with interesting discussions, great innovative topics, in line with the modern and rapidly developing China" noted Wolfgang Schöffl, head of product line weaving machines and member of the extended management, Lindauer Dornier.

The VDMA Textile Machinery Association and VDMA China were present at the fair, to support the members e.g. with regard to IPR. With the help of a VDMA expert and a contracted law firm, the member company Sahm submitted a complaint application for patent infringement disputes during the exhibition to the onsite IPR office. Both parties, Sahm, and the Chinese company, that used patented design without permission reached an agreement: The Chinese company had to stop displaying functions and designs involving patent infringement on site which meant the removal of some structural parts and the covering of key components protected by patent protection.

Dr. Harald Weber, managing director of VDMA Textile Machinery concluded: “Asia, and China in particular, represent the primary foreign markets for the VDMA member companies in the sector. The Chinese market is the main destination for their exports. Other major export destinations in Asia include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan. ITMA ASIA + CITME provides a unique platform to showcase technologies for customers directly in Asia. The VDMA member companies are looking forward to the coming edition of the fair from 14 to 18 October 2024 in Shanghai.”

The latest survey of VDMA members' subsidiaries in China gives reason to hope that the economic situation in the Chinese textile industry could also improve significantly in the second half of the year. In addition, European textile machinery manufacturers are urged to be present on the most important market and at the trade fair and to offer Asian customers most advanced technology for their demanding challenges.

Researchers at the ITA, the University of Bonn and Heimbach GmbH have developed a new method for removing oil spills from water surfaces in an energy-saving, cost-effective way and without the use of toxic substances. The method is made possible by a technical textile that is integrated into a floating container. A single small device can remove up to 4 liters of diesel within an hour. This corresponds to about 100 m2 of oil film on a water surface.
 
Despite the steady expansion of renewable energies, global oil production, oil consumption and the risk of oil pollution have increased steadily over the last two decades. In 2022, global oil production amounted to 4.4 billion tons! Accidents often occur during the extraction, transportation and use of oil, resulting in serious and sometimes irreversible environmental pollution and harm to humans.

There are various methods for removing this oil pollution from water surfaces. However, all methods have various shortcomings that make them difficult to use and, in particular, limit the removal of oil from inland waters.

For many technical applications, unexpected solutions come from the field of biology. Millions of years of evolution led to optimized surfaces of living organisms for their interaction with the environment. Solutions - often rather unfamiliar to materials scientists and difficult to accept. The long-time routine examination of around 20,000 different species showed that there is an almost infinite variety of structures and functionalities. Some species in particular stand out for their excellent oil adsorption properties. It was shown that, e.g., leaves of the floating fern Salvinia molesta, adsorb oil, separate it from water surfaces and transport it on their surfaces (Figure 1, see also the video of the phenomon.).

The observations inspired them to transfer the effect to technical textiles for separating oil and water. The result is a superhydrophobic spacer fabric that can be produced industrially and is therefore easily scalable.

The bio-inspired textile can be integrated into a device for oil-water separation. This entire device is called a Bionic Oil Adsorber (BOA). Figure 2: Cross-section of computer-aided (CAD) model of the Bionic Oil Adsorber. The scheme shows an oil film (red) on a water surface (light blue). In the floating cotainer(gray), the textile (orange) is fixed so that it is in contact with the oil film and the end protrudes into the container. The oil is adsorbed and transported by the BOA textile. As shown in the cross-section, it enters the contain-er, where it is released again and accumulates at the bottom of the container. See also the video regarding the oil absorption on the textile, source ITA).
 
Starting from the contamination in the form of an oil film on the water surface, the separation and collection process works according to the following steps:

• The BOA is introduced into the oil film.
• The oil is adsorbed by the textile and separated from the water at the same time.
• The oil is transported through the textile into the collection container.
• The oil drips from the textile into the collection container.
• The oil is collected until the container is emptied.

The advantage of this novel oil separation device is that no additional energy has to be applied to operate the BOA. The oil is separated from the surrounding water by the surface properties of the textile and transported through the textile driven solely by capillary forces, even against gravity. When it reaches the end of the textile in the collection container, the oil desorbs without any further external influence due to gravitational forces. With the current scale approximately 4 L of diesel can be separated from water by one device of the Bionic Oil Adsorber per hour.

• It seems unlikely that a functionalized knitted spacer textile is cheaper than a conventional nonwoven, like it is commonly used for oil sorbents. However, since it is a functional material, the costs must be related to the amount of oil removed. In this respect, if we compare the sales price of the BOA textile with the sales prices of various oil-binding nonwovens, the former is 5 to 13 times cheaper with 10 ct/L oil removed.
  Overall, the BOA device offers a cost-effective and sustainable method of oil-water separation in contrast to conventional cleaning methods due to the following advantages:
• No additional energy requirements, such as with oil skimmers, are necessary
• No toxic substances are introduced into the water body, such as with oil dispersants
• The textiles and equipment can be reused multiple times
• No waste remains inside the water body
• Inexpensive in terms of the amount of oil removed.
• The team of researchers from the ITA, the University of Bonn and Heimbach GmbH was able to prove that the novel biomimetic BOA technology is surprisingly efficient and sustainable for a self-controlled separation and automatic collection of oil films including their complete removal from the water. BOA can be asapted for open water application but also for the use in inland waters. Furthermore, it is promising, that the textile can be used in various related separation processes. The product is currently being further developed so that it can be launched on the market in 2-3 years.

Autoneum’s sustainable, textile and lightweight Propylat technology reduces both interior and exterior noise of vehicles. Propylat was originally developed by Borgers Automotive, which was acquired by Autoneum in April 2023. The versatile technology is characterized by a flexible material composition of natural and synthetic fibers with a high recycled content and contributes to significant waste reduction thanks to its complete vertical integration. In addition, the fully recyclable technology variant Propylat PET is now part of the sustainability label Autoneum Pure.

The ongoing electrification of mobility as well as increasingly strict regulatory requirements for vehicle performance in terms of sustainability and acoustics are presenting new challenges to car manufacturers worldwide. With Propylat, Autoneum now offers another lightweight, fiber-based and versatile technology whose sound-insulating and -absorbing properties as well as high content of recycled materials help customers address these challenges. Propylat-based products not only contribute to reducing pass-by noise and improving driver comfort, but they are also up to 50 percent lighter than equivalent plastic alternatives; this results in a lower vehicle weight and, consequently, less fuel and energy consumption as well as lower CO2 emissions.

Autoneum's innovative Propylat technology consists of a mixture of recycled synthetic and natural fibers – the latter include cotton, jute, flax or hemp, for example – that are consolidated using thermoplastic binding fibers without adding any further chemical binders. Thanks to the flexible fiber composition and the variable density and thickness of the porous material, the properties of the respective Propylat variant, for example with regards to acoustic performance, can be tailored to individual customer requirements. This allows for a versatile application of the technology in a variety of interior and exterior components such as wheelhouse outer liners, trunk trim, underbody systems and carpets. For instance, Propylat-based wheelhouse outer liners significantly reduce rolling noise both inside and outside the vehicle while at the same time offering optimum protection against stone chipping and spray water.

In terms of sustainability, Propylat always contains a high proportion of recycled fibers – up to 100% in some variants – and can be manufactured with zero waste. Thanks to the full vertical integration of Propylat and Autoneum’s extensive expertise in recycling processes, the technology also contributes to a further significant reduction in production waste. Moreover, the Propylat PET technology variant, which consists of 100% PET, of which up to 70% are recycled fibers, is fully recyclable at the end of product life. For this reason, Propylat PET has been selected for Autoneum Pure – the Company’s sustainability label for technologies with excellent environmental performance throughout the product life cycle – where it will replace the current Mono-Liner technology going forward.

Propylat-based components are currently available in Europe, North America and China.