From the Sector

The Trützschler Group SE has appointed Dr. Ulrich Schwenken and Heinrich Krull to its Board of Directors with effect from July 1, 2022. Dr. Schwenken will serve as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Heinrich Krull will serve as Chief Operations Officer (COO).

Dr. Schwenken will assume responsibility for Development, Digitalization, IT and Corporate Communications. As a doctoral graduate specialized in engineering, he has many years of experience in automotive and mechanical applications. Since 2008, he has held various management positions in the areas of Service, Sales and Development at companies including Porsche AG and Volkswagen AG, where his responsibility covered a range of key topics such as digital transformation. Most recently, Dr. Schwenken served as CSO, CTO and CDO at Leistritz AG, and was responsible for the strategic focus on innovative growth areas.

Mr. Krull joined Trützschler Group SE in September 2020. As a graduate engineer for production engineering and management with international experience in mechanical and production site engineering, he has comprehensive expertise related to operations. He also has extensive experience of production technologies, including in-depth knowledge of Lean Management methods and expertise in post-merger integration. As COO, he will be responsible for the areas of Production, Purchasing and Logistics, Quality Assurance as well as Supply Chain.

Until his scheduled retirement at the end of 2022, Dr. Dirk Burger will act as Co-CEO to Dr. Schwenken.

The responsibilities of the Board of Directors of Trützschler Group SE as of July 1, 2022 are as follows: Dr. Ulrich Schwenken (CEO) is responsible for Development, Digitalization, IT and Corporate Communications; Dr. Dirk Burger will take over the role of Co-CEO to Dr. Schwenken until the end of 2022; Dr. Ralf Napiwotzki (CFO) is responsible for Finance and Controlling, Human Resources, Legal and Compliance; Alexander Stampfer (CSO) is responsible for Sales, Marketing and Service; Heinrich Krull (COO) is responsible for Production, Purchasing and Logistics, Quality Assurance as well as Supply Chain.

Stahl, a proponent of responsible chemistry, is submitting a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target that is aligned with the most recent guidance provided by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The new target marks a key milestone on the company’s journey toward carbon neutrality.

Stahl’s SBTi submission includes a specific commitment regarding the company’s Scope 3 upstream emissions, which Stahl aims to reduce by at least 25% over the next 10 years, compared with the base year (2021). This reduction would primarily be achieved by Stahl replacing its fossil-based raw materials with lower-carbon alternatives. The target is a major step towards the objective of limiting global warming temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050, as agreed at the 2015 Paris Climate Accords.
 
Stahl’s extended commitment builds on the company’s existing targets to reduce its emission for Scopes 1 and 2, which were set shortly after the Paris Agreement in 2015. Stahl has since reduced its Scope 1 and 2 (direct) GHG emissions by more than 30%, thanks to operational efficiency gains and by decarbonizing its energy supply.

Scope 3 GHG emissions cover all the additional indirect emissions that can occur in the value chain, including those associated with purchased raw materials, packaging, business travel, and transportation. Stahl’s Scope 3 emissions currently represent over 90% of its carbon footprint.

• The Borvida™ portfolio introduces sustainable base chemicals to Borealis’ range of product offering
• The range will initially be based on non-food waste biomass, and chemically-recycled waste; in the future it will also draw from atmospheric carbon capture
• The traceability of the content will be based on Mass Balance, which is ISCC PLUS certified
• This is the next step in an ambitious sustainability journey, which will see Borealis move away from traditional fossil-based feed

Borealis is strengthening its EverMinds™ circular product offering with Borvida™, a range of sustainable base chemicals.

The Borvida portfolio will offer base chemicals or cracker products (such as ethylene, propylene, butene and phenol) with ISCC Plus-certified sustainable content from Borealis sites in Finland, Sweden and Belgium. The move is part of Borealis’ broader commitment to a Future-Positive Revolution, in which the unrivalled benefits of base chemicals and polymers can be enjoyed at minimal impact to the planet.   

The portfolio will initially comprise Borvida B, from non-food waste biomass, and Borvida C, from chemically-recycled waste. In the future, the range will evolve to include Borvida A, sourced from atmospheric carbon capture. Borvida is complementary and is the building block to Bornewables™, a portfolio of polyolefins based on renewably-sourced second generation feedstocks, and Borcycle™, which offers circular polyolefins produced from mechanically- and chemically-recycled plastic waste.

Borealis produces a wide range of base chemicals for use in numerous industries based on various feedstock, such as naphtha, butane, propane and ethane. Through its olefin units (steam cracker and propane dehydrogenation), it converts these into the building blocks of the chemical industry: ethylene, propylene and C4 hydrocarbons (butylenes, ethyl tertiary-butyl ether (ETBE) and butadiene), and C5-6 hydrocarbons (pygas, phenol) among others.

The basis of the Borvida portfolio is Mass Balance, a Chain of Custody model that enables sustainable content to be tracked, traced, and verified through the entire value chain, offering sustainability-assured products from feedstock to end product. Using this model, circular alternatives can be offered in a cost-effective and environmentally-conscious way, which can be scaled up quickly without compromising on quality or efficiency.

Borvida can be used for a wide range of different polymer and chemical applications, also beyond polyolefins (PO). Non-PO polymers, such as polycarbonates, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), super absorbant polymer (SAP) and other chemicals, are utilised for various end applications including coatings, plasticizers, adhesives, automotive, electronics, lubricants, detergents, appliances and sports equipment.

Together with key strategic partners, including Neste and Covestro, Borealis strives to provide a long-term solution in order to allow value-chain partners to meet their sustainability goals. Borvida will enable our customers to increase the sustainability of their products, keeping them ahead of forthcoming legislative changes, and meeting their customers’ demands for climate-conscious products.

Introduced on a smaller scale in early 2020, early renewable base chemicals customers include Covestro. “The use of alternative sustainable raw materials is one important pillar of our strategic ambition to become fully circular”, comments Frank Dörner, Managing Director Covestro Procurement Services GmbH & Co. KG. “The new product line is a good example for joint solutions, another strategic pillar, in order to establish new and reliable supply chains creating benefits for our customers.”

AkzoNobel has announced that Gregoire Poux-Guillaume will become the company’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as of November 1, 2022.

He will succeed Thierry Vanlancker, who has been CEO and member of the Board of Management since 2017, and whose term of office is coming to an end.

Gregoire (52), a French national, is an international business leader with 25 years of experience. He has a distinguished track record of building successful, profitable businesses in challenging environments, accelerating business growth and improving margins.

Previous roles include CEO of Sulzer, CEO of GE Grid Solutions (previously Alstom Grid) and Senior Managing Director of CVC Capital Partners.

Catering to the acoustic requirements of electric vehicles, Autoneum has extended its concepts for noise-reducing engine encapsulations to new applications related to electric drives. Hybrid-Acoustics PET and the foam-based alternatives Hybrid-Acoustics FLEX and Fit FLEX ensure optimum noise protection in e-cars and thus improve driving comfort. All three technologies are characterized by a high acoustic performance tailored to specific customer needs and zero waste production.

Disturbing noises such as the high-frequency sounds of e-motors and other electric devices or the whining noise of the gearbox are posing new acoustic challenges for vehicle manufacturers worldwide. Anticipating the increasing demand for sound-reducing components in both the front and the rear of e-cars early on, Autoneum has expanded its technologies for noise protection in the engine bay to new tailor-made applications for electric vehicles.

With the fibrous technology Hybrid-Acoustics PET and the two foam alternatives Hybrid-Acoustics FLEX and Fit FLEX, the Company offers three standardized technologies that reduce noise directly at the source, thereby improving driver comfort. All three technologies are produced waste-free and their adaptive capacity to different sizes and shapes allows for a broad spectrum of uses in electric vehicles: from e-motor encapsulations to the reduction of noise and vibration of inverters, gearbox, pumps and compressors. By offering both fibrous and foam-based variants, Autoneum is able to flexibly cater to individual customer needs and preferences with regard to material, acoustic concept, sustainability and costs.

In terms of sustainable noise protection in the engine bay, Autoneum’s patented innovation Hybrid-
Acoustics PET sets the tone: it is made of 100 percent PET with up to 50 percent recycled fibers; cut-offs in production are reclaimed, processed and reused and the material can be fully recycled at the end of product life. The unique textile technology, which is part of the Company’s sustainability label Autoneum Pure, is particularly suited to attenuating high-frequency sounds of the electric drive unit and offers the optimum balance of absorption and insulation. Moreover, components made of Hybrid-Acoustics PET are up to 40 percent lighter compared to standard insulators.

To accommodate the differing preferences of vehicle manufacturers, Autoneum has complemented its lightweight textile technology with two foam-based alternatives. Since the foam is injected in both technologies, no waste is generated during production either. Hybrid-Acoustics FLEX is based on the same acoustic concept as Hybrid-Acoustics PET, but the decoupler is made of foam instead of felt. Autoneum’s Fit FLEX, on the other hand, combines the foam decoupler with an injection molded heavy layer. Thanks to the high geometrical adaptability of foam to even complex shapes, both technologies offer outstanding acoustic performance in the insulation of e-motors and other noise sources in electric vehicles. Furthermore, the absorbing or insulating acoustic quality of the foam can be flexibly tuned to specific customer needs.

The automotive industry currently faces a complex set of market dynamics: rising material and transport costs, reduced budgets, changing consumer expectations, increasing challenges related to CSR, etc. In this context, improving efficiency across the whole value chain has become a strategic priority for vehicle and equipment manufacturers. Lectra supports its customers by designing and developing cutting-edge solutions that combine software, equipment, data and services to make its offer the gateway to Industry 4.0.
 
With Industry 4.0, a new range of possibilities is opening up to businesses. The concept and its technologies bring in new value creation and cost control models based on synchronized, flexible and fast processes.
 
The Automotive Cutting Room 4.0 offer is a set of solutions connected to one other: Vector, the fabric cutting equipment offering the best performance in the market; Empower, a new generation of digital services to leverage Vector's capabilities; Valia, the heart of the new offer, a software for preparing and scheduling production; and Algopex, an application for exploiting and capitalizing on all the data generated by the cutting room, so you can make the best decisions as quickly as possible.
 
Connecting up all the elements of the Automotive Cutting Room 4.0 offer delivers this unprecedented value and enables an unparalleled level of performance to be achieved. Nicolas Favreau, Lectra’s Automotive Marketing Strategy Director, explains: “When the whole cutting room process is digitalized, the data generated are centralized and accessible in real time, helping our customers to make the best decisions at every step of the production process. The benefits are huge. For example, the key performance indicators from the offer’s first users show productivity gains of around 5% and a reduction in material consumption of nearly 2%. That’s unheard of! These results, combined with the agility that the Automotive Cutting Room 4.0 brings and the complete process control, demonstrate the offer’s maximum relevance.”

• Biotransformation technology for nonwovens

Avgol^® has received the prestigious Innovation Award at the RIGHT Hygiene conference in recognition of its collaboration with Polymateria in development of pioneering biotransformation technology for nonwovens.
 
Biotransformation is a unique functionality wherein a conventional nonwoven fabric can be modified to react to certain triggers to then begin a cascade, and importantly a fundamental chemical transformation of the polymer resin into a wax that is readily degraded by natural bacteria, microbes and fungi normally found in the environment.
 
“The transformation is triggered through the combined effects of the natural elements of decay - air, moisture, heat and sunlight,” said Mr. Sanjay Bhayani, Director of India Operations with Avgol. “Once triggered, the material will transform into a low molecular weight wax structure leaving no microplastics or toxic residue behind. Moreover, if the product comprising the biotransformation technology is disposed of in the normal way and facilities are available, then it can be recycled by readily available means.”

“By bringing the Biotransformation technology to the various potential markets in India, we hope to offer a real-world solution to waste management,” he said. “We particularly hope to address aspects of the creation of fugitive waste and remove this from the environment without causing additional, and potentially more dangerous, problems.”

• Finnish fashion and textile technology company Infinited Fiber Company plans to build its first commercial-scale Infinna™ fiber factory at Stora Enso’s Veitsiluoto industrial site in the city of Kemi in Finland’s northernmost region of Lapland. Infinited Fiber Company plans to convert a building currently housing a discontinued paper production line.
• The size of Infinited Fiber Company’s planned investment is around EUR 400 million.
• The planned factory is expected to create around 270 jobs at the Veitsiluoto industrial site.
• The factory is expected to operate at full capacity in 2025.

Fashion and textile technology company Infinited Fiber Company plans to build a commercial-scale factory to produce regenerated textile fiber for the world’s leading apparel companies at the site of renewable materials company Stora Enso’s closed Veitsiluoto paper mill in Kemi, a Finnish city on the northern shore of the Baltic Sea. The size of the investment is estimated at EUR 400 million, and it is expected to create around 270 jobs in the area. The annual fiber production capacity of the planned factory is expected to be 30,000 metric tons, which is equivalent to the fiber needed for about 100 million T-shirts.  

Infinited Fiber Company’s technology enables cotton-rich textile waste to be transformed into a versatile, high-quality regenerated textile fiber called Infinna™, which looks and feels like cotton. Major international fashion and apparel companies – including Zara’s parent company Inditex, PVH Europe, which is known for the Tommy Hilfiger brand, Patagonia, PANGAIA, H&M Group and BESTSELLER – have already committed to Infinna™ purchases through multi-year agreements as they look for materials that enable the industry to shift towards circularity. Infinited Fiber Company expects to export most of the output of its planned factory. This makes Kemi an ideal location as the city’s port serves as an efficient link to the rest of the world.

Infinited Fiber Company will convert a building housing a discontinued paper production line into an Infinna™ fiber factory. Both the factory engineering and project implementation as well as the related financing negotiations were commenced at the beginning of the year and are progressing well. Infinited Fiber Company has also agreed on the provision of energy and water related services with utility infrastructure company Nevel.

Once up and running, the factory is expected to provide direct employment for around 220 people, and for a further 50 through on-site support functions such as services, maintenance, and logistics. The additional indirect employment impact is estimated to be around 800 jobs. The construction and installation phase is expected to create jobs equaling around 120 person-years. The factory is anticipated to operate at full capacity in 2025.

Premium Group and JOOR have renewed their partnership to power the SS23 PREMIUM and SEEK trade shows through JOOR’s digital platform, underpinning their belief in the power of a hybrid approach to wholesale.

From 7 - 9 July, buyers visiting the shows in Berlin will be able to learn more about and shop from exhibitors in a new hybrid way. Buyers can discover the full PREMIUM and SEEK portfolio of brands both in-person and online 24/7 by visiting JOOR Passport, JOOR's digital trade show destination.

Premium Group unites its various show locations to one cosmos for SS23 at Messe Berlin. The PREMIUM and SEEK shows will be joined by two further components— The Ground is a D2C creative platform for brands and consumers to meet, connect, and collaborate through one-of-a-kind experiences, engaging content, and innovative products, while FASHIONTECH, features masterclasses and panel discussions from the fashion industry’s most brilliant minds. A calendar of content includes deep dives into strong, successful, and sustainable strategies. As part of the content offer, JOOR will facilitate a masterclass on ‘Digital Wholesale’ and a future-looking roundtable discussion with four leading fashion brands on the FASHIONTECH stage.

Throughout the duration of the show, in-person buyers and visitors will have the ability to shop via the Premium Group mobile app. By simply scanning a brand’s corresponding QR code, visitors will link to the brand’s custom profile on JOOR Passport and be able to shop collections directly on the platform. JOOR Passport will also extend the duration of the shows by up to three months, allowing brands to continue wholesale selling digitally outside the window of the physical show.

JOOR and Premium Group’s flexible hybrid format allows visitors and brands a seamless digital and physical introduction to each other and their collections, the opportunity to connect in an efficient, effective, and longer term way, and the convenience to shop the show 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world.

Brands participating include Drykorn, Closed, Bertoni of Denmark, Veja, Ecoalf, Wrangler and Absolut Cashmere.

Setting concrete environmental sustainability objectives for abating direct greenhouse gas emissions and leveraging investments and state-of-the-art technology. This is the approach that has always guided RadiciGroup in operating its businesses with a wide range of products: chemical intermediates, polyamide polymers, high performance engineering polymers and advanced textile solutions.

Between 2011 and 2020, overall Group greenhouse gas emissions were cut by 70%, falling from about 700,000 metric tons per year of CO₂ equivalent to 200,000 metric tons.  

These results were largely achieved through the action implemented by the Group’s Specialty Chemicals Business Area at its plants in Novara, Italy, and in Germany, which are the heart of RadiciGroup’s chemicals business. Here the Group produces an essential intermediate for synthesizing polyamide 66, adipic acid, whose production process releases nitrous oxide as a by-product. Nitrous oxide in itself is not particularly problematic (in fact, it is used in the medical sector as an anaesthetic and in the food industry as a spray propellant, in cans of whipped cream, for instance), but, if it is released into the atmosphere, it has a much higher greenhouse gas effect than carbon dioxide.

At the Radici Chimica site in Novara, a multiyear investment budget of over EUR 10 million was dedicated to lowering these emissions through three important undertakings: in 2004, putting into operation a three catalyst bed reactor, designed and patented by the company, to decompose nitrous oxide into nitrogen and oxygen, the two elements it is composed of, thus making it innocuous for the atmosphere; in 2013, installing an EnviNOx plant to decrease the release of nitrous oxide formed in the production of nitric acid, and, in 2021, a further improvement in the emissions abatement system associated with nitric acid production.

Since activating the last plant just 9 months ago, more than 35,000 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent have been cut. All the above-mentioned actions have enabled Radici Chimica Novara to record a nitrous oxide emissions level less than 10 ppm, a value close to zero.