From the Sector

OUTLOOK™ 2024 took place on 24-26 September 2024 in Rome, gathering a record of 549 delegates from 212 companies and 37 countries across the nonwovens personal care, hygiene & wipes products value chain.

OUTLOOK24 Conference
The conference, structured across five key sessions, featured 26 speakers covering a diverse array of critical topics impacting not only the nonwovens industry but society at large. These topics included cutting-edge innovations and eco-design, evolving market dynamics, navigating new EU regulations, the future of absorbent hygiene products, sustainability, retail strategies, and the challenges posed by China's influence on European commerce.

The event's first day opened with a compelling presentation by Joachim De Vos, Managing Partner and Founder of Living Tomorrow & TomorrowLab. As an expert in strategic innovation and scenario planning, he shared valuable insights on guiding organizations towards future-readiness. He highlighted the emerging success factors, emphasizing how Generative AI can be leveraged to develop scenarios for the nonwovens industry, serving as a powerful roadmap for future innovation.

On the second day, James Kynge, the Europe-China correspondent for the Financial Times, delivered a keynote address., "The China Challenge", emphasizing China's rapid rise as a global tech superpower, noting that the country produced more than half of the world's robots last year. He explored the far-reaching impact of this growth on European commerce, highlighting the challenges and outlined strategies for European companies.

The final day of OUTLOOK™ Jack Stratten, Director of Insider Trends. highlighted in his presentation, “The polarization of choice: How retailers and brands are responding to market and product saturation,” in an unprecedented market saturation that leaves 64% of consumers feeling overwhelmed by choices. He discussed how massive retail platforms drive product saturation, influencing both quality and variety and concluded that differentiation in this crowded landscape occurs by focusing on high-quality, curated selections.

OUTLOOK24 Exhibition
As part of its commitment to fostering connections within the industry, OUTLOOK™ 2024 continued its tradition of offering extensive networking opportunities to its delegates. This year’s event featured a tabletop exhibition, where 20 companies had the chance to showcase their expertise over the 3 days.

The next edition of OUTLOOK™ will take place from 23-25 September 2025, in Budapest, Hungary at the Marriott Hotel, Budapest.

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, in partnership with AFS, the American Filtration and Separations Society, announces the call for presentations for the Advances in Filtration Conference at FiltXPO™ 2025, scheduled for April 29-May 1, 2025, in Miami Beach, Florida. Filtration professionals are invited to showcase their latest research and technological advancements during this highly anticipated two-day event.

Abstract submissions are now open and can be submitted through the AFS website.

Conference Highlights:

• Key Topics:
• Nonwovens and Filtration for Healthy Buildings
• Nonwovens and Filtration for Data Centers
• Nonwovens and Filtration for e-Mobility
• Sustainability and Circularity in Filtration
• Innovations Meeting Current Challenges of Filtration
• Presentation Formats:
  The conference will feature both oral presentations and technical posters. The Planning Committee will determine the appropriate format for each submission, with both formats considered equally valuable.
• New Addition:
  This year, the conference introduces technical posters, offering a platform for subject matter experts and research institutes to present their latest filtration innovations.

Abstract submissions are due by October 15, 2024. All submissions will undergo a peer-review process conducted by the Conference Planning Committee.

How to Participate: To submit abstracts and for more information, please visit: https://www.afssociety.org/filtxpo-2025.

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, announced the conference program for Hygienix™ 2024, November 18-21, The Renaissance Nashville Hotel, Nashville, TN. This year’s theme, “Driving Absorbent Hygiene Product Innovation: Consumer Desires, Market Dynamics & Sustainability Solutions,” will provide insights into the latest industry advancements.

Event highlights include:

Pre-conference webinars

• “Non-PFAS Hydrophobic Technology for Polypropylene Nonwovens”
• “Harnessing AI to Enhance Transparency and Trust in Brand Sustainability”

Workshops (Monday, November 18th)

• “Fundamentals of Absorption Systems and Opportunities in Adult Incontinence”
• “Innovations in Menstrual Care”
• “Baby and Infant Care Market Dynamics”

Networking opportunities

• Lunch Arounds with founders of successful hygiene start-ups
• Lightning Talks – supercharged elevator pitches
• Tabletop Exhibits of leading-edge absorbent hygiene suppliers
• Receptions – three extended networking events

Presentation Preview

• Absorbent Hygiene Insights, LLC, “Exploring the Performance of Polyaspartic Acid Superabsorbents in Hygiene Products”
• China National Household Paper Industry Association (CNHPIA), “Latest Development of Disposable Hygiene Products Industry in China”
• Glatfelter Industries (France) SAS, “Capitalizing on Capabilities to Support the Shifting Hygiene Industry”
• Gottlieb Binder GmbH & Co. KG, “Synergy of Components - Upstream Advancements Offering Downstream Sustainability Opportunities”
• Handas Consulting, “The Intersection of Nonwovens, Sustainability and the Environment: An African Perspective”
• INDA, “UN Plastics Treaty Update”
• INDA, “Business Not as Usual – The Impact of Reusables on the Absorbent Hygiene Market”
• Curt G. Joa, Inc., “Efficient Material Utilization in Hygienic Incontinence Articles”
• Joii Ltd., “Using Nonwoven Period Care Products and an AI-backed Mobile Application to Diagnose Heavy Menstrual Bleeding”
• Kuraray Europe GmbH, “Connecting Consumer Insights with AHPs: Designing Elastics & Naturality”
• The LYCRA Company, “From Farm to Fiber: Developing Elastane with 70% Renewable Content”
• MyMicrobiome GmbH, “The Menopausal Skin Microbiome – What Do You Need to Know?”
• Price Hanna Consultants LLC, “Shifting Sands in the Global Economy for Absorbent Hygiene Products”
• Principle Business Enterprises, “The High Cost of Adult Incontinence”
• RPK Consulting, “Shifting to Sustainability: Natural Fibers in Diapers and the Rise of Eco Brands”
• Texol S.R.L., “Functional Substrates to Preserve Skin Microbiome”
• SK Leaveo, “Comprehensive Sustainability in Hygiene Products: Exploring Biodegradable Alternatives and Circular Economy”
• SPARK Solutions For Growth, “There’s an App for That! The New World of Incontinence Tech”
• University of Pennsylvania, Division of Urology, “Latest Medical & Surgical Treatment for Incontinence”
• ZymoChem, “The Final Frontier: A Bio-Based Source for Super Absorbents”

Hygienix Innovation Award™
A highlight of the event, the Hygienix Innovation Award™ will feature presentations from three finalists on Tuesday, November 19th. The winner, to be announced on Thursday, November 21st, will be recognized for their innovative contributions to absorbent hygiene products. Nominations are open until September 16th, 2024. Last year’s winner, Sequel Spiral™ Tampon, received FDA clearance in August 2023 and is expected to be widely available in 2024.

Latest developments in the sustainable textile industry will be introduced and discussed at the “Cellulose Fibres Conference 2025 – New with Biosynthetics” in Cologne, Germany and online, on 12-13 March 2025. Abstract submission is now open.

In 2024, 214 participants enjoyed two conference days in Cologne or online. The highlights were 40 presentations with lively panel discussions afterwards, the innovation award “Cellulose Fibre Innovation of the Year”, an exhibition, the poster session and plenty of networking possibilities. All of this will be repeated in 2025, including new topics, new speakers and new inputs. The “Cellulose Fibres Conference 2025” 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, e.g. textiles from renewable fibres, nonwovens such as wet wipes and composites, hygiene and packaging. The conference will further address topics like circular economy, fibre-to-fibre recycling and sustainable carbon cycles, biosynthetics, new technologies and feedstocks.

Call for Abstracts
Enterprises and research institutes are invited to contribute to the program and present their innovative products, technologies or developments. Deadline for submission is 30 September 2024.
cellulose-fibres.eu/call-for-abstracts

Call for Innovations
The conference will conclude with the innovation award “Cellulose Fibre Innovation 2025” whose winner can join the ranks of amazing innovations. The deadline for innovation submissions is 30 November 2024. The innovation award “Cellulose Fibre Innovation of the Year 2025” is sponsored by GIG Karasek.
cellulose-fibres.eu/award-application

Call for posters
The poster exhibition is highly anticipated event at the conference. Poster submissions are open until 31 January 2025.
cellulose-fibres.eu/call-for-posters

The Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games are just around the corner and a global sports frenzy is underway. However, intense summer workouts often lead to sportswear absorbing excessive sweat, becoming clingy and cumbersome, causing discomfort and potentially impacting performance. A research team from the School of Fashion and Textiles at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has developed the iActive™ sportswear range which features a root-like liquid transport system and a skin-like active perspiration dissipater and utilises nature-inspired, anti-heat textile fabrics to expedite sweat removal, effectively reducing the weight and stickiness of activewear caused by sweat accumulation during exercise.

The human body has millions of sweat glands that are vital for regulating body temperature by dissipating sweat for evaporation to cool the skin’s surface. With unabating greenhouse gas emissions, the number of very hot days annually is expected to increase significantly. This will lead to elevated energy consumption and increased sweating during physical activity and outdoor labour. Even when wearing highly breathable clothes with good sweat-wicking properties, individuals may still experience discomfort due to excessive sweat accumulation.

A research team led by Dr SHOU Dahua, Limin Endowed Young Scholar in Advanced Textiles Technologies and Associate Professor of the School of Fashion and Textiles at PolyU, has invented the iActive™, intelligent, electrically activated sportswear with a nature-inspired active perspiration function.

Its nature-inspired technologies, including low-voltage-driven artificial “sweat glands” created by skin-like anti-heat textile fabrics and a root-like branching liquid transport system that aligns with the body’s sweat map, can actively and programmably remove sweat to a perspiration dissipater at the lower region of the sportswear. The all-textile sweat dissipater is compact and operates at a safe output voltage of approximately 5-9V, and its battery is easy to detach from the clothing, making it convenient for users to repeatedly wash the clothing by hand or in a washing machine to maintain hygiene. When the human body’s sweat rate is low, iActive™ can still be used independently without the battery.

Based on the optimised wettability pattern and gradient, the research team utilises a skin-like textile fabric to transport sweat one-way quickly and dissipate it from the inside to the outside. This feature reduces the stickiness and weight of clothing, improves breathability and ensures the garments remain dry and comfortable to wear. Experimental findings indicate that iActive™ creates a breathable and dry skin microclimate by dissipating sweat at a rate that is three times faster than the maximum human sweating rate. This innovation can also prevent discomfort from coldness and moisture after a workout. In comparison to traditional fabrics, the textile materials in iActive™ are 60% lighter and 50% less clingy when soaked, providing the wearer with all-round comfort and enabling sports enthusiasts and athletes to perform at their best.

Furthermore, a mobile app further aids personalised sweat management by wirelessly adjusting the sweat level of iActive™. This innovation is versatile and can be seamlessly integrated into a variety of textile materials to facilitate sustainable mass production. Beyond sportswear, iActive™ is also well-suited to protective clothing and workwear for individuals engaged in prolonged, high-intensity physical labour and outdoor occupations, including healthcare professionals, construction workers, firefighters, law enforcement officers and others, thereby significantly enhancing their work performance.

Dr Shou Dahua stated, “The extreme weather and high temperatures resulting from global warming have elevated the importance of heatstroke prevention and cooling measures on a global scale. Drawing on the vivid phenomena of thermal insulation and directed liquid flow in nature, we aim to foster innovation and sustainable advancement in garment manufacturing by inventing intelligent clothing and materials to address global challenges. We seek to harness the power of technology to infuse fresh perspectives into the traditional clothing industry, thereby enhancing its competitiveness.”

His research team has also developed a premium fabric named Omni-Cool-Dry™, drawing inspiration from volcano dwelling beetles. This fabric not only provides ultra-fast sweat dissipation and ensures all-day comfort with its dry and breathable features under dynamic thermal conditions, but also reflects solar radiation and emits body heat into the cold universe, enabling passive cooling. The team is working hard to leverage the benefits of both inventions to further enhance the sweat-dissipating and cooling capability of iActive™ sportswear.

Dr Shou Dahua, a core member of the PolyU Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems and the Research Centre of Textiles for Future Fashion, has recently been bestowed with the 2023 Distinguished Achievement Award by The Fiber Society for his outstanding contributions to the fields of personal thermal and moisture management, intelligent wearables and soft robotics. The accolade is presented annually to an individual researcher worldwide. He has also received international innovation awards, including consecutive TechConnect Global Innovation Awards in 2021 and 2022. Moreover, his research papers have been published in various internationally renowned academic journals including Science Advances, PNAS, Advanced Functional Materials, and Advanced Energy Materials. Dr Shou will be chairing The Fiber Society Spring 2025 Conference at PolyU.

The Circular Valley Convention is a new trade fair format organised by Messe Düsseldorf in cooperation with the non-profit Circular Valley Foundation and with scientific support from the renowned Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology called UMSICHT.

The convention looks at the circular economy from a holistic perspective: across industries and materials – and all phases of the circular economy, from smart circular design to the reuse and further utilisation of products.

As a central global platform for the circular economy, it brings together decision-makers and experts from business, academia, politics, and society in one place. Under the motto "Uniting Industries for a Circular Tomorrow", it promotes their networking in order to present and jointly develop circular solutions and processes and drive forward the transformation towards a circular economy.

Messe Düsseldorf is contributing its many years of expertise to the Circular Valley Convention stemming from a wide range of trade fairs such as K, interpack and drupa, which are closely related to the circular economy. The non-profit Circular Valley Foundation, the cooperation partner of the convention, has a comprehensive understanding of the circular economy and a large network. The scientific support provided by the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT and the associated expertise round off the extensive professional support.

The Circular Valley Convention covers all phases of the circular economy: from the use of renewable raw materials to product design, manufacturing, logistics, and operations all the way through to collection, sorting, and recycling, featuring solutions for different material classes and value chains. The convention combines applied research and practice and is a content hub for top decision-makers and experts. With the guiding theme "Enabling Circular Economy", the focus is on three central topics that enable the transformation towards a circular economy:

• Enabling Value Chains: the implementation of efficient, sustainable, and cross-industry circular solution strategies to maximise the use of resources and make business models fit for the future.
• Enabling Technologies: the transfer of circular competencies such as redesign, refurbish, remanufacture & recycle. The goal is to optimise products and processes using technologies that comply with the principles of the circular economy.
• Enabling Materials: the promotion of the efficient use and recycling of various materials, aiming for the extension of product lifespans and the integration of cross-material circular strategies for the sustainable use of resources.

the Circular Valley Convention offers a three-part event format consisting of a conference, an expo, and a networking event on the evening of 12 March 2024. Over 100 high-calibre speakers are scheduled to attend the conference. More than 130 exhibitors and partners are expected to attend the expo, the marketplace for future-oriented circular solutions, which offers insights into new trends, innovations, and best practice examples.

Salvation Army charity shops have won two major awards from the Charity Retail Association for Outstanding Charity Retailer of the Year, and Environmental and Sustainability at the CRA Annual Conference held at the Harrogate Convention Centre on 26th June 2024.

This is the second time the charity has won the Outstanding Charity Retailer of the Year Award in the past four years - winning it outright in 2022 and 2024, and also being shortlisted in 2021 and 2023.

The Environmental and Sustainability Award sets out specific criteria that organisations must demonstrate, including the introduction of green policies, and new ways of dealing with textile recycling.

Both award categories focused on retail initiatives and key achievements over the previous 12 months. SATCoL recently announced its highest trading results and a record-breaking donation to its parent charity of over £11.2m.

In 2022 SATCoL launched its 5-Year Strategic Plan under the theme of ‘Dare to CARE’ – this included new performance measures for People, Planet and Profit. CARE represents SATCoL's values of Compassion, Accountability, Respect and Equality. The company continues to invest in its donation centres and refurbishing more high street shops – 10 new donation centres opened and 9 high street shops were refurbished in the year 2022-23.

SATCoL has also invested heavily in innovations including FibersortTM, an automatic sorting process that identifies and sorts second-hand garments by fibre type, and Project Re:claimTM, a commercial-scale polyester recycling plant designed to recycle end-of-life textiles. Project Re:claim is a joint venture with Project Plan B.

As part of the European Erasmus+ project AddTex, the partner organisations organised several hackathons at the universities of Boras (Sweden), UPC (Spain), PIN (Italy) and TUS (Ireland) in May. The aim is to connect students with real challenges in the industry and promote innovation in the areas of ecology, sustainability, digitalisation and design. The participants had received basic information in advance through the 45 training videos and training sessions of the free and public Smart, Digital and Green Skills Academy at https://addtex.eu.

The hackathon at the Italian university PIN (Polo Universitario Città di Prato) was organised and held together with the technical textiles department of the Industrieverband Veredlung - Garne - Gewebe - Technische Textilien e.V. (IVGT). Eight teams competed to develop innovative, sustainable ideas in just a few hours for the German family business Schmitz Textiles GmbH & Co. KG, Emsdetten. Schmitz Textiles, an expert in complete textile solutions for indoor and outdoor use for over 100 years, plans to offer exclusively sustainable products in the medium term and is looking for solutions to continuously increase the existing recycled share of yarns to 100 per cent.

Stefan Schmidt from IVGT presented the challenge via Teams Conference: "We are looking for a new business model for textile recycling at awning manufacturer Schmitz-Textiles in order to increase the existing proportion of recycled yarns and go beyond the exclusive use of recycled PET bottles. Schmitz Textiles has had an awning fabric made from 100% recycled polyester in its range since the end of 2023. The medium-term goal is to switch the entire range of awning fabrics to 100% recycled yarns. The company is looking for suitable solutions to achieve this.

In small teams, the 30 students specialising in eco-design, textiles/sales and textiles/technology developed proposals and presented them in five-minute online pitches. Ralf Bosse for Schmitz Textiles and Iris Schlomski for the IVGT acted as the jury and assessed the individual presentations in the categories of degree of innovation, presentation, industrial application potential and potential for commercial success. Each idea presented and each presentation scored more or less points in the individual categories. In the end, the points scored were added up to determine the winning team, which can further develop its idea together with the company. For Schmitz Textiles, these are Eleonora Boccherini, Ilaria Ioja, Giorgio Gacci and Marianna Butera.

In-store Asia, a trade fair for retail resources and investments in store design, visual merchandising and in-store marketing on the Indian subcontinent will again be held in Mumbai from 13 to 15 June 2024. Over the course of the 15 years of its existence it has become established as the biggest get-together of retail decision-makers in India. Here, over 4,500 players from retail, consulting and services, manufacturers as well as retail solution providers come together.

Visitors to In-store Asia have the opportunity to discover a wide variety of exhibitors showcasing their products and solutions for the retail sectors including:

• Point-of-Purchase (POP) displays and interactive flatscreens
• Visual Merchandising (VM) and store fittings
• Signage and graphic design solutions
• Retail technologies for improving customer retention
• Tailor-made store design services
• Start-up initiatives for the retail sector

The 2-day conference at In-store Asia provides a platform for discussions about current retail trends in India and the world over. More than 40 key speakers from India and abroad will share their forecasts, latest trends and use cases on the topics of retail markets, retail experience design, sustainability, visual merchandising, retail technology and store fitting under the inspiring motto “Connected, Collaborative, Conscious”.

Highlights at the trade fair amongst others include the VM&RD Retail Design Awards and the VM Challenge, two events that honour special achievements and innovations in visual merchandising and store fitting. The VM&RD Retail Design Awards acknowledge outstanding store fitting projects in a total of 24 categories. The VM Challenge is a unique live window display contest for the visual merchandising community where six teams compete to dress a window on a given theme.

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, and AFS, the American Filtration & Separations Society, announce their strategic partnership to create the FiltXPO™ 2025 Conference Program. FiltXPO, the International Filtration Conference & Exhibition, will co-locate with IDEA®25 from April 29 to May 1, 2025, in the Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida.

The theme for FiltXPO 2025 is “The Future of Filtration: Advancing Technology, Performance & Sustainability.” The two-day FiltXPO conference program will feature technical insights into filtration innovations and technologies from industry professionals worldwide. INDA and AFS will issue a call for abstracts in the next few weeks.