From the Sector

A sector alliance that was formed to tackle issues relating to microplastics has completed the next phase of its project to develop a harmonised industry standard for the supply chain. The Cross Industry Agreement (CIA) has revealed the results of a fibre fragmentation trial that has been carried out in advance of establishing a CEN Standard (from the European Committee for Standardization). Once confirmed, the standard will also become an ISO standard under the Vienna Agreement, providing apparel manufacturers and policy makers with a vital tool as part of wider work to reduce microfibre shedding into the environment.

In 2018, five industry organisations agreed to join forces to proactively tackle the issue of microplastics, and signed the Cross Industry Agreement. The initial signatories were European industry associations that represent the European and global value chains of garments and their associated maintenance – the International Association for Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products (A.I.S.E.), European Man-Made Fibres Association (CIRFS), European Outdoor Group (EOG), EURATEX the European apparel and textile industry confederation, and the Federation of the European Sporting goods Industry (FESI). Together, the five organisations understood that the very first step to enable global action around the topic, was to agree a harmonised test method which would allow the collection and comparison of globally generated data, to aid the identification of solutions.

The microfibre shedding test method was developed thanks to the joint efforts and cooperation of experts from 28 European, American and Asian organisations; the result was handed over to CEN in 2020. Since then, representatives from the CIA have been working with CEN to fine tune details in order to meet the requirements for a CEN Standard. To verify the reproducibility of the method, the partners have carried out a round robin trial (RRT) to determine if the method could be replicated in different laboratories and produce similar results. 10 organisations participated in the RRT, which was co-ordinated by the CIA, sending fabric samples to all of the laboratories involved and then collecting and analysing the data.

The results from the RRT show statistically significant consistency, both within and between participating laboratories, which demonstrates that the method is both repeatable in the same setting and reproducible in other laboratories.

The CIA has submitted the results of the RRT to CEN, with the intention that the CEN Standard is confirmed in the near future. Once that has happened, it will be promoted throughout the apparel industry and will become a key tool for researchers, businesses and governments as they accelerate efforts to reduce microfibre shedding associated with garment production.

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry announces “On-Demand” video access to presentations recorded from the 2021 World of Wipes® (WOW) International Conference held July 12-15 in Atlanta.  The high-quality program content includes sessions on: sustainability, market and consumer trends, industry policies and regulations, flushable wipes, and innovations in substrates, preservatives, and packaging.  It also includes the product presentations and announcement of the World of Wipes Innovation Award®  and of the presentation of the INDA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award.  Each speaker’s presentation is approximately 30-minutes in length and includes Q & A’s recorded live following the session. The On-Demand WOW program content is available for purchase and viewing for 90 days by visiting https://www.pathlms.com/inda/courses.

Professionals interested in advancing their knowledge of the multi-billion dollar wipes market sector may purchase the entire program containing 31 speaker presentations, or select among nine individual sessions here or for more information visit https://www.inda.org

It is exactly 100 years ago on August 17th this year that Carl Axel Gustafsson returned from the USA to Sweden with a significant agency agreement from the Boston-based sewing machine leader Reece.

Back in 1921, Reece, along with its competitor Singer, entirely dominated the buttonhole machine market and were the world’s only manufacturers of these machines for jackets, trousers and coats.

Gustafsson’s license enabled his new company A C Gustafsson to become one of Europe’s first leasing organisations, hiring out Reece buttonhole machines and receiving payment per sewn buttonhole stitch.

This business thrived for many decades and formed the basis for the entire ACG Group as it exists today.

Forty years later, on September 2nd 1961 to be precise, Reimar Westerlind walked out of a restaurant after a long and enjoyable lunch with someone he’d never met before, having signed his intention to buy a company he knew nothing about on an improvised contract written on the back of a menu.

“What I didn’t know then was that my dining partner was the family lawyer of Carl Axel Gustafsson,” Reimar explains. “I had no money and knew nothing about the textile industry and I also quickly discovered the business was not doing so well at that time and tried to get out of the agreement, but he insisted I honour it. He told me he had money and would back me, but I’d have to work hard and pay him back in full.”

Reimar certainly took that advice, and at the age of 92 still travels to his office every day to oversee the operations of the diverse companies now operating under the ACG umbrella.

Although textiles remain the bedrock of the business, under Reimar Westerlind’s management, ACG Group has branched out into many other fields of activity over the past 60 years, and its diversity has also led to some highly unexpected developments.

Like many other European manufacturers, ACG also began to expand beyond its traditional borders from the 1970s onwards – initially into the former Soviet Union and subsequently establishing subsidiaries in Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, the Ukraine and Denmark.

The 11^th edition of RISE®, Research, Innovation & Science for Engineered Fabrics Conference will be presented virtually on Sept. 28-30 with more than 150 professionals in product development, materials science, and new technologies.

The conference will culminate on Sept. 30 with the presentation of the 2021 RISE® Innovation Award recognizing problem-solving innovations that advance the nonwovens industry.

The program includes presentations from industry leaders, round-table discussions and question-and-answer sessions on the key themes of material science developments for sustainable nonwovens, sustainability, increasing circularity in nonwovens, and promising innovations in nonwovens, processes and materials:

• Promising Materials Development Using PLA
  presented by Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Ph.D., William A. Klopman Distinguished Professor and Executive Director, North Carolina State University, The Nonwovens Institute
• Phantom Platform: The Polyolefin-cellulose Coformed Substrates Technology at Its Best, featuring insights from Fabio Zampollo, CEO, Teknoweb Materials S.r.l.
• Biotransformation Technology in Polyolefin Fibers and Nonwoven Fabrics, Focus on Fugitive Used Articles
  with speakers, DeeAnn Nelson, Ph.D., Development Program Manager, and Nick Carter, Vice-President of Marketing and Business Intelligence, both from Avgol Nonwovens
• High-Loft, Ultra-Soft Hygiene Solutions,
  presented by Paul Rollin, Ph.D., Global Team Lead – Nonwovens, ExxonMobil Chemical Company
• Innovating a Sustainable Future for Nonwovens; A European Perspective
  given by Matthew Tipper, Ph.D., Operations Director, Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute Ltd., (NIRI), UK
• Filtration Media Functionalized with Zinc Oxide
  by Wai-shing Yung, Ph.D., Technical Director, Ascend Performance Materials

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, wrapped up its 15th annual World of Wipes® International Conference, July 12-15, with a presentation of the World of Wipes Innovation Award® to Kimberly-Clark Corporation and the highest attendance record in six years.

This year’s WOW conference welcomed 475 enthusiastic professionals from 14 countries to its in-person World of Wipes® (WOW) International Conference to advance their wipes business. Held in Atlanta, GA, the conference was notable as the first in-person conference in the nonwovens and engineered fabrics industry in 500 days due to the pandemic.

Industry professionals from 33 global companies delivered presentations and answered questions in sessions that included Wipes and the Growing Plastics Debate, Regulatory Requirements for Disinfecting and Sanitizing Wipes, Trends in the Wipes Markets and Among Consumers, Wet Wipe Preservative Innovations, Covid-19 Impacts on Wipes Consumption and Cleaning Habits, Sustainable Wipes Packaging and Dispensing, Nonwoven Substrates for More Sustainable Wipes, and Flushable Wipes: Loved by Consumers, Wrongly Accused by Utilities.

Highlights included the announcement of Kimberly-Clark Scott® 24-Hour Sanitizing Wipes as the winner of this year’s World of Wipes Innovation Award®. The annual award recognizes the product that most expands the use of nonwovens and demonstrates creativity, novelty, uniqueness, and technical sophistication within the entire nonwovens wipes value chain.

Other highlights included the presentation of the 2021 INDA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award to John Poccia. The annual award is nominated by INDA’s Technical Advisory Board and presented to an individual whose technical achievements over a long-standing career have significantly contributed to the technical advancement, success, and growth of the nonwovens industry.

Other presentation highlights included:

• Recent Developments Under the EU Green Deal and Plastics Strategy – Pandemic Update – Gyongyi David, Attorney at Law, V V G B Advocaten-Avocats, Director- EHS Regulatory, Steptoe & Johnson LLP
• FDA & EPA Framework of Regulations: Dry Wipes Claims – Tony Herber, Principal Regulatory Consultant/Assistant Federal Team Manager, Scientific & Regulatory Consultants, Inc. (SRC. Inc.)
• Consumer Wipes Usage During Covid-19 and Future Use – Chris Dresselhuys, Business Director-North American Retail Wipes, Rockline Industries
• Sustainable Solutions for Wipes – Vishal Bansai, Vice President, Innovation, and Silke Brand-Kirsch, VP, Marketing and Business Development, Glatfelter Gernsbach GmbH
• Sustainability Impacts Across the Value Chain of Wipes Packaging – Vicky Chang, Marketing Manager, Consumer & Industrial Products, Amcor Flexibles
• Unveiling Wet Wipes Preservation: New Findings on Microbial Risks and Preservative Solution – Paul Salama, Ph.D., CTO& Head of Innovation, Sharon Laboratories

Some of the newly added substances are used in consumer products such as cosmetics, scented articles, rubber and textiles. Others are used as solvents, flame retardants or to manufacture plastics products. Most have been added to the Candidate List because they are hazardous to human health as they are toxic for reproduction, carcinogenic, respiratory sensitisers or endocrine disruptors.

Companies must follow their legal obligations and ensure the safe use of these chemicals. They also have to notify ECHA under the Waste Framework Directive if their products contain substances of very high concern. This notification is submitted to ECHA’s SCIP database and the information will later be published on the Agency’s website.

Background
The Candidate List includes substances of very high concern that may have serious effects on our health or the environment. These substances may be placed on the Authorisation List in the future, which means that companies would need to apply for permission to continue using them. The Candidate List has now 219 entries – some of these cover groups of chemicals so the overall number of impacted chemicals is higher.
 
Under the REACH Regulation, companies may have legal obligations when their substance is included – either on its own, in mixtures or in articles – in the Candidate List. Any supplier of articles containing a Candidate List substance above a concentration of 0.1 % weight by weight has to give sufficient information to their customers and consumers to allow safe use.
 
Importers and producers of articles containing a Candidate List substance have six months from the date of its inclusion in the list (8 July 2021) to notify ECHA. Suppliers of substances on the Candidate List (supplied either on their own or in mixtures) have to provide their customers with a safety data sheet.
 
As of 5 January 2021, suppliers of articles on the EU market containing Candidate List substances in a concentration above 0.1% weight by weight must notify these articles to ECHA’s SCIP database. This duty comes from the Waste Framework Directive.
 
More information on these obligations and related tools are available here.

The European textile and apparel industry welcomes the organisation of the EU-US Summit in Brussels, and hopes that political leaders will launch a new era of closer cooperation across the Atlantic. Both the Covid19 pandemic and recent geopolitical tensions call for global solutions; the EU and the US should take a leadership role in developing that new global framework.

EU-US trade in textiles and apparel have dropped by nearly 20% in 2020 (just under €6 bln), while imports from other countries, in particular China, have increased spectacularly (+45% into the EU). At the same time, global supply chains came under pressure, and access to certain raw materials for the industry became difficult and costly.

Against this background, EURATEX does not call for protectionism, but a better functioning of global supply chains, with common rules which are applied by all. The EU and US authorities should put their full influence to establish a level playing field for our industry across the globe, promoting environmental and social standards. Sustainable and circular textiles should become the norm, thus contributing to a greener planet and creating high quality jobs.  

At bilateral level, the EU and US should resume their work on mutual recognition of standards and certification procedures, thus saving considerable costs for our companies while maintaining the highest safety standards. Custom procedures can be simplified on both sides, and joint research, e.g. in smart textiles, should be promoted.

EURATEX welcomes the recent progress in provisionally eliminating additional duties on several American and European products due to the Airbus-Boeing trade dispute. It is a very positive sign that EURATEX would like to highlight in a particularly difficult context for the textile and clothing industry at European, American and even global levels. EURATEX calls on both US and EU institutions to eliminate such duties permanently and build on a common positive agenda for the benefit of EU and US companies and consumers.

EURATEX Director General Dirk Vantyghem commented: "Both the EU and US are developing a new business model for their industry. We should make sure these models can complement and reinforce each other. If not, we risk losing global leadership, not just in terms of market share but also in terms of values and standards."

On the occasion of releasing its 2021 Spring Report, EURATEX calls the European Institutions to implement a new Industrial Strategy which will effectively support the European textiles industry. EURATEX welcomes the fact that Textile and Clothing industry is recognised as one of the 14 essential ecosystems of the European economy, but we need to take effective measures to support these sectors, and take into consideration the global dimension.

Economic data for 2020 in EURATEX Spring Report show preoccupying trends. Figures reflect a dramatic contraction in demand and production: EU turnover contracted by -9.3% in textiles (which is in line with the general manufacturing average) and by -17.7% in clothing, compared with 2019. Furthermore, supply chain disruptions and substantial price increases of some raw materials are putting significant pressure on the T&C industries across Europe. The trade deficit for European textiles and clothing jumped from € -47 bln in 2019 to € -62 bln in 2020, an increase of more than 30%, which is almost entirely due to the import of Chinese face masks and related products. Fortunately, more recent figures from the 1st quarter of 2021 indicate some signs of recovery.

That figure illustrates very well today’s political discussions on the future of the European industry. Many European companies have made considerable efforts to adapt their production to the pandemic, but clearly this was not enough. Whether the production cost in Europe is too high or the EU should adapt its procurement rules, the industry needs have a coherent long-term plan to become more competitive and conquer new markets.

EURATEX General Assembly highlighted the critical role of the new EU Industrial Strategy. The inclusion of textiles and clothing in the fourteen ecosystems is a step in the right direction to consolidate the industrial base but we should look also at the global challenges. European companies should continue investing in innovation, design and quality, in combination with a structural move towards more sustainable textiles. At the same time, the EU should create an environment - both inside the Single Market and globally - where everybody plays by the same rules.

National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas is testifying on “Supply Chain Resiliency and the Role of Small Manufacturers” before the Small Business Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access.
 
In written testimony submitted to the committee, Glas provides an overview of the incredible resiliency of the U.S. textile industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of the ensuing economic crisis, existing options available to small manufacturers to access capital, and policy recommendations to strengthen the entire industry domestic supply chain.

“One silver lining associated with the immense challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis is that it afforded the domestic textile industry an opportunity to demonstrate its enormous resiliency, flexibility, and overall value to the U.S. economy,” Glas says in the testimony. “Despite the fact that there was virtually no [full] U.S. production of textile-based PPE prior to the pandemic, the heroic actions of domestic textile manufacturers resulted in the ability to supply homegrown PPE at the height of the greatest healthcare emergency our country has faced in the past 100 years.”

“As we exit the current crisis, rational federal policies are once again needed to ensure a stable overall environment where small businesses can compete and thrive, and targeted initiatives are required to ensure that domestic supply chains for critical materials, such as PPE, exist in the United States,” Glas notes.

Glas details five key policy recommendations supported by 20 trade associations and labor groups, representing the entire domestic supply chain aimed at strengthening the integrated U.S. textile sector:

• Strengthen Buy American procurement rules
• Provide funding assistance for companies to reconstitute domestic supply chains important to U.S. national and healthcare security
• Key contracting reforms
• Streamline the SBA loan application process
• Provide additional funding for workforce training

Please view the full written testimony by NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas here.

AMAC cooperates with ITA (Institute for Textile Technology of RWTH Aachen University and their ITA GmbH) for the business development in composites 

As of April 19th, 2021, AMAC is pleased to announce its cooperation with the Institute for Textile Technology, ITA, of RWTH Aachen University and their ITA GmbH. The aim of the cooperation is to strengthen and develop their business activities in composites.

ITA, as one of the largest institutes on the campus of the excellence University RWTH Aachen, Germany, develops complete solutions from the manufacturing of the fiber itself over the processing of textile intermediates with thermoplastic and thermoset resins, textile-based part manufacturing, capabilities such as braiding, pultrusion and in-situ impregnation of textile preforms. Top 3 focused industries are transportation and particularly the e-mobility sector, building and construction as well as the wind energy sector. Additionally, ITA GmbH is the partner of the industry in R&D, focusing on 8 business segments, providing technology and knowledge transfer, as well as offering comprehensive solutions along the entire textile value chain.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Gries, Director of ITA, explains the background of the strategic cooperation with focus on composites: „Our long-term experience and unmatched know-how with all aspects of continuous fibers, non-wovens and web-based reinforcements allows us to deliver to the composite manufacturers a complete technology and service offer around the development of technical textiles, from the development of glass and carbon fibers to the textile-based processing of composite parts. In all process steps of our research and developments, we focus on sustainable and recyclable solutions, an efficient cost-performance ratio, the possible use of bio-based materials and the reduction of the CO2 footprint. We are glad to cooperate with Dr. Michael Effing and AMAC in order to benefit from his door-opening network in the composites industry. “

Dr. Michael Effing, Managing Director of AMAC GmbH: „I am very happy to support the ITA to generate innovation thanks to further industrial networking and pre-competitive joint projects. ITA is indeed a one-stop source for composite solutions from the fiber to the cost-efficient manufacturing of final parts. In the context of the Covid-19 impact to the entire industry, it makes sense to bundle forces. Furthermore, ITA, with its long tradition and satisfied customers offers further valuable networking opportunities to the composites industry as well as access to relevant complementary fiber-based excellence and 250 different technologies in their machine-park with an outstanding infrastructure in Aachen.”