From the Sector

Heimtextil kicks off the new trade fair year with over 3,000 exhibitors from 65 countries. At the opening, architect and designer Patricia Urquiola presented her installation ‘among-us’ at Heimtextil.

“The steady growth and the very high level of internationality confirm the strength of Heimtextil. As leading international trade fair for home and contract textiles and textile design, it is an indispensable partner for the global industry – this is more important today than ever before. Especially in challenging times, Heimtextil offers companies the opportunity to strengthen their market position: through international visibility, the identification and realisation of potential and the development of new global business partners”, says Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt.

Visitors to the leading trade fair for home and contract textiles find a globally unique range of products on 16 hall levels. This spans from wallpapers, upholstery fabrics, mattresses and sleep systems, towelling products, textile designs, fibres and yarns to carpets. The Carpets & Rugs area counts three times as many exhibitors in 2025 and is growing by several hall levels.  

The Heimtextil Trends 25/26, curated for the first time by the Milan-based design platform Alcova, offer inspiration and sustainable solutions. In the Trend Arena in Hall 3.0, they are spectacularly staged. They are looking at material qualities, colours and innovative production processes.

The content programme covers the most important industry topics. It addresses different visitor groups – from retailers, wholesalers, industry, designers, furniture and bedding shops, interior architects, interior designers, architects, contract furnishers and many other decision-makers. At the Retail Stage in Hall 12.1, topics ranging from sleep and sustainability to AI in retail and optimising the customer experience are being highlighted. The Texpertise Stage in Hall 4.0 focuses on materials for contract furnishings, trends in hotel design, carpets and the Heimtextil Trends 25/26.

Installation by Patricia Urquiola: design concepts for retail and hospitality
At the Heimtextil opening press conference, star designer and architect Patricia Urquiola presented her design installation ‘among-us’ in Hall 12.0. The area contains products made specially for Heimtextil. For example, a hanging carpet created by the traditional dhurrie technique. Patricia Urquiola developed the unique pieces together with partners such as Kettal, Moroso, cc-tapis, Aquafil and Cimento®. Embedded in the installation, they show retail and hospitality the possibilities opened up by the textile design of tomorrow. Patricia Urquiola emphasises holistically designed rooms and objects, living areas that merge seamlessly as well as materiality and versatility.

“‘among-us’ is a convivial and intuitive textile installation that shows the evolving possibilities of textiles, exploring their hybrid potentials across various scales – from product design to one/off pieces. The title, among-us, refers to the concept of being together and reflects the intent of the installation to celebrate hybrid new relations”, explains Patricia Urquiola.

In ‘among-us’, physical and virtual worlds merge through a grid on the floor inspired by drafting software. At the centre are textile elements in abstract and organic forms such as a sofa or an upholstered sculpture. They demonstrate the interplay of materials and technologies. Screens show their virtual counterparts and encourage interaction. At the same time, ‘among-us’ shows how textile innovations influence design processes. Textiles combine functionality, aesthetics and sustainability and create unique possibilities. The installation also shows how traditional craftsmanship can be integrated into the design of spaces and products.

Autoneum has supported Renault Group in the development of Renault Emblème, a low-carbon demonstration car designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent over its entire life cycle. As a key partner of the project, Autoneum further optimized the environmental performance of its sustainable Pure technologies, which were used for numerous components in the vehicle interior and exterior. Leveraging its proven expertise in the development of lightweight and fully recyclable monomaterials with a high recycled content, as well as in the areas of life cycle analysis (LCA) and product innovation, Autoneum was able to reduce the carbon footprint of its parts and contribute to a significant reduction in vehicle weight for Renault Emblème.

Increasingly stringent regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale, new directives and the electrification of mobility require innovative approaches from the entire automotive industry. To support vehicle manufacturers in achieving their sustainability targets, Autoneum continuously optimizes the environmental performance of its products and processes: from further increasing the share of recycled content and the end-of-life recyclability of its lightweight technologies to reducing waste and shifting to renewable energy in its production facilities. In addition, the Company is working closely with customers and partners to validate data and products together. One of the most recent examples of such a successful collaboration is Autoneum’s contribution to Renault Emblème.

The Renault Emblème demonstration car emits 90% fewer greenhouse gases over its entire life cycle than a comparable vehicle produced today. To achieve these ambitious decarbonization targets, Renault Group assembled more than twenty suppliers from across the industry to participate in specialized projects in five different areas: eco-design, raw material selection, manufacturing, use and end of life. In addition to providing valuable expertise in the areas of LCA and product development, Autoneum’s contribution entailed the further optimization of its environmentally friendly Pure technologies, which already today are characterized by an excellent sustainability performance across the product life cycle and also include the Company’s growing portfolio of monomaterial technologies made of 100 percent polyester.

Autoneum’s innovative and lightweight materials were used for around thirty fiber-based components in the interior and exterior of Renault Emblème, including the carpet, the underbody panels and wheelhouse outer liners as well the front and rear trunk. Thanks to the high recycled content, the waste-free production process and the excellent recyclability of the materials at the end of their service life, Autoneum was able to reduce drastically the carbon footprint of the components. This outstanding achievement was made possible by further boosting the sustainability performance of existing technologies such as Ultra-Silent, Propylat PET, Hybrid-Acoustics and Autoneum’s monomaterial polyester carpet systems. In addition, the parts contributed to a weight reduction, which positively affected both the carbon footprint and the range of the electric car.

In line with the new Level Up corporate strategy, which focuses on innovation and a future-fit product portfolio among other things, Autoneum has further expanded its research and development activities in 2024 with a particular focus on New Mobility. In addition to establishing a specialized team to accelerate the development and market readiness of novel products and technologies for electric vehicles, the Company has complemented its global innovation network with a new Research & Technology (R&T) Center in Shanghai, China.

Innovation is and always has been an integral part of Autoneum’s corporate strategy and thus a key factor for business success. The Company’s innovation activities are also an important aspect of its vision: to be the global leader for innovative and sustainable solutions bringing comfort to every vehicle. Against the backdrop of the rapidly advancing electrification of mobility and Autoneum’s strategic focus on further expanding its presence in the Asian growth markets, the expansion activities of the company-wide innovation network this year concentrated on two key areas in particular: New Mobility and presence in China.

Responding to the increasing demand for new components for electric vehicles, Autoneum has formed a specialized team dedicated exclusively to New Mobility to further strengthen its position in this growing market segment. The New Mobility team was established in fall 2023 and has been completed over the past twelve months with members from different departments. It unites a broad set of skills from various fields of expertise such as product innovation, product development and industrialization, sales and business development. The team places a particular focus on accelerating the development and time to market of new products and technologies specifically for the fast-evolving battery systems and architectures of electric vehicles. It also acts as a catalyst for innovation pro-jects and strategic partnerships. The New Mobility experts work in close collaboration with the various departments across the organization and are based at Autoneum’s Swiss headquarters in Win-terthur, at the German locations in Gundernhausen and Munich and in Shanghai, China.

Shanghai is also the location of Autoneum’s third R&T Center worldwide, which was opened in China this summer to enhance the Company’s competitiveness in Asia and cater to the development and innovation needs in this key strategic market. The new center aims to intensify and accelerate the development and production of innovative components and materials, especially regarding e-mobility. The establishment of an R&T team in China allows Autoneum to develop products in a timely manner to respond to the dynamic market conditions and the rapidly evolving requirements of Chinese vehicle manufactures. In terms of material development, the center will support the wider organization in the further development of sustainable materials, especially polyester. In addition, it will promote the introduction of Autoneum’s environmentally friendly products such as the Company’s monomaterial carpet systems featuring Autoneum’s innovative and latex-free alternative backcoating (ABC) process to the Chinese market. Moreover, the R&T Center in Shanghai will also serve as a valuable point of contact with the 14 production facilities of the Jiangsu Huanyu Group, whose acquisition of a majority stake of 70 percent by Autoneum was recently announced and is expected to be closed in March 2025 (see media release of November 19, 2024). While the plants in China will benefit from the local R&T team’s expertise in the company’s technologies, the existing broad customer base of Jiangsu Huanyu Group will support Autoneum in better understanding and serving the innovation needs of Chinese vehicle manufacturers.

The new R&T Center in Shanghai complements the primary R&T Center in Winterthur, Switzerland, which supports the global network with its expertise and a vast array of services in the areas of pre-development as well as acoustic and thermal benchmarking, simulation and testing, and the center in Bocholt, Germany. The latter was integrated into Autoneum’s innovation network following the acquisition of Borgers Automotive last year and has since established itself as the Company’s competence center for trunk and trim components. Including the new center in China, a total of approximately eighty R&T employees – including engineers, chemists, physicists and product designers – are continuously working on new ideas aimed at the next technological breakthrough in acoustic and thermal management and shielding technologies.

Project Re:Claim, a joint venture between the Salvation Army Trading Company and Project Plan B, has been nominated for the Plastics Industry Awards 2024 in the "Recycler of the Year" category. Using an ISEC evo system from PURE LOOP to process used garments and other textiles, the project is Europe’s first polyester textile recycling system. The award ceremony will take place on 22 November in London.

The UK produces more than half a million tonnes of polyester textile waste every year. Project Re:Claim aims to recycle post-industrial and post-consumer clothing and textiles. The focus is on the recycling of post-industrial polyester from contract textiles for hospitals or hotels (e.g. bed and table linen), workwear and school uniforms, as well as promotional banners (e.g. printed sports banners). The fabrics and textiles come from controlled material streams (closed-loop systems), ensuring minimal impurities. The recycling technology used is an ISEC evo 302 E from PURE LOOP. This innovative technology, developed by the EREMA Group’s member, enables efficient production of high-quality rPET from textile waste.

Europe’s first polyester textile recycling system
The plant, installed at a Salvation Army Trading Company (SATCoL) processing centre in Kettering in early 2024, represents Europe’s first commercial scale polyester textile recycling system specialising in post-consumer polyester. SATCoL is the trading arm of The Salvation Army and UK’s largest charity owned textile collector.

Together with Project Plan B, a specialist in garment design with a focus on design for recycling, PURE LOOP optimised its integrated shredder-extruder combination ISEC evo for the specific requirements. "Plan B has a vision, and we are convinced something great can come out of it," emphasises Manfred Dobersberger, Managing Director at PURE LOOP. Thanks to the configuration of shredder and extruder on one drive shaft and the patented double feed ram system, the ISEC evo 302 E gently processes discarded polyester into rPET, which can be reused for new yarns and other products. "Up until now, polyester that had no useful life left would have been disposed of," explains Tim Cross, CEO of Project Plan B. "With the ISEC evo, we can now return textile waste as a valuable material back to the supply chains. It’s a carbon saving solution, and it plays a significant role in helping our collective journey to Net Zero."

Textile recycling: an industry with growth potential
The plant aims to recycle 2,500 tonnes of polyester in its first year, doubling this amount in the second year. In addition to the environmental benefits such as diverting unwearable textiles away from landfill, initial estimates indicate that the production of pellets from Project Re:Claim uses only one-tenth of the energy compared with pellets produced from virgin polyester. One prerequisite for this is an energy-efficient recycling machine such as the ISEC evo.

• Construction progress of world’s first PET enzymatic biorecycling plant in France: in line with production targets in 2026
• Commercial development: several Letters of Intent signed in view of licensing agreements
• Consolidated cash position of €120.7 million on 30 June 2024, plus €23.4 million in term deposits classified as financial assets. In addition, €42.5 million in public funding is expected.

CARBIOS, a pioneer in the development and industrialization of biological technologies to reinvent the life cycle of plastic and textiles, reported its operating and financial results for the first half of 2024.
The financial statements as of 30 June 2024 were approved by CARBIOS' Board of Directors.

The improvement in the financial results is mainly due to the increase in the Company’s financial income from interest on money market investments and term deposits of its cash and cash equivalents. Cash is systematically invested in risk-free, highly liquid money market products.

The decrease in financial expenses is mainly due to the capitalization of borrowing costs for the Longlaville plant.

The Group’s operating income (loss) shows a loss of €18.1 million at 30 June 2024 (€13.7 million loss at 30 June 2023).

The Group’s cash position stands at €120.7 million at 30 June 2024, plus
€23.4 million in term deposits classified as financial assets (for a total cash of €144 million after incorporation of term deposits) (€192 million at 31 December 2023).

On the basis of cashflow position to date, and the Company’s forecast operating expenses, CARBIOS considers to be able to cover its needs beyond the next 12 months. In addition, €42.5 million euros in public funding is expected.

In the first six months of 2024:

• The Group incurred €11,771 thousand in R&D expenses. The rise in R&D costs is mainly due to increased staff costs in line with the development of the Group’s various activities.
• The Group reported €1,952 thousand of Subsidies and other business income, which partially offset these R&D expenses. This item mainly consists of €1,379 thousand in tax credit for first-half 2024, of which €1,043 thousand relates to CARBIOS and €336 thousand to Carbiolice.

Finally, the Group continued to capitalize the Development expenses of its PET biorecycling project, booking a total €1,618 thousand in the first half of 2024, in accordance with IAS 38 capitalization criteria.

During this first period of the 2024 financial year, CARBIOS forged several international strategic partnerships with a view to deploying its licensing model for its technology and know-how in the field of PET plastic and textile enzymatic biorecycling.

CARBIOS, a pioneer in the development and industrialization of biological technologies to reinvent the life cycle of plastic and textiles, and SELENIS, a leading supplier of high-quality specialty polyester solutions, have signed a Letter of Intent to cooperate in the production of PETG. By leveraging CARBIOS’ enzymatic depolymerization technology and Selenis’ expertise in polymerization, the companies aim to develop a premium, sustainable PETG material made from PET waste for the Cosmetic and Healthcare packaging sectors across Europe and the U.S. This partnership follows a two-year collaboration between the two companies and represents a significant advancement in the plastic recycling industry.

PETG is an indispensable packaging material in both the cosmetics and healthcare industries due to its exceptional clarity, durability, mechanical and chemical resistance. CARBIOS’ enzymatic depolymerization solution breaks down all types of PET waste into PTA and MEG monomers, which are then transformed into PETG through Selenis’ advanced polymerization processes. Thanks to the purity of these monomers, PETG issued from biorecycling presents the same properties as virgin PETG, allowing for products packaged in thick, molded pots and lids to be protected and presented attractively. In the medical and pharmaceutical industries, PETG properties are also critical for guaranteeing top packaging performance, sterility, transparency and optical brightness, making it an ideal choice for complex medical device packaging, pharmaceuticals blisters, or any other packaging of diagnostic equipment. The material’s value is therefore further underscored by combining a sustainable recycling solution whilst guaranteeing all needed properties, aligning with consumer sustainability demands and stringent regulatory requirements.

CARBIOS and Selenis’ partnership is the result of extensive pilot and industrial polymerization trials that have refined the quality of the end product. The result is high-specialty PETG grades issued from biorecycling that meet the strict requirements of sectors like cosmetics and healthcare, where Selenis has a strong presence through its Selcare brand.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited through its direct subsidiary – IVL Dhunseri Petrochem Industries Limited - and Dhunseri Ventures Limited have formed a joint venture with Varun Beverages Limited, PepsiCo's second-largest bottling company globally outside the US, to establish several greenfield state-of-the-art PET recycling facilities in India.
 
The joint venture has begun the construction of two PET recycling facilities, planned for completion within 2025, with potential for more. One facility is in Kathua within the Jammu Division of the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, situated in Northern India, while the other is in Khurdha within the State of Odisha, located in Eastern India. The aim is to reach 100 kiloton annual capacity of recycled PET (rPET) across all the facilities when combined.

This initiative aligns with the escalating demand for rPET content in India, driven by both regulatory mandates and a collective effort towards a circular economy for PET. The surge in demand reflects a significant shift, with projected volumes increasing from approximately 400 kilotons in 2025-2026 to over 1 million tons by 2031. Mandates such as the Indian government’s compulsory requirement of 30% recycled plastic content in plastic packaging by 2025-2026, escalating to 60% by 2028-2029, underscores the urgency and importance of this transformation. Moreover, this move aims to effectively cater to the needs of India’s beverage Brand Owners, many of whom have established ambitious sustainability goals in line with regulatory directions.

The Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions Division of the Swiss Oerlikon Group is expanding its customer services and spare parts business in the area of machines and systems for the production of carpet yarns (BCF) and industrial yarns (IDY). To this end, the company concluded an agreement with the Truetzschler Group, based in Moenchengladbach, Germany, in August. Technology experts and service staff from Oerlikon Neumag are now the new contacts for customer services and the spare parts business for Truetzschler's BCF and IDY technologies installed in the market. The Moenchengladbach-based textile machinery manufacturer is withdrawing from this business segment in order to concentrate on the spinning, card clothing and nonwovens businesses in future.

Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions offers complete solutions for the manmade fiber industry. They range from extrusion and polycondensation plants to texturized yarn, and are accompanied by automation and digital solutions. The supply of all process steps from a single source ensures a harmonized technology that guarantees high quality of the yarns produced.

Based in Neumuenster, Germany, Oerlikon Neumag, a branch of Oerlikon Textile GmbH & Co. KG and a brand of the Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions Division, has been an established and broadly positioned international supplier with proven expertise in the field of BCF for decades. The division's sister company Oerlikon Barmag from Remscheid, Germany, contributes its expertise in the field of IDY systems.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) reported a slight rise in quarterly performance, supported by a gradual recovery in sales volumes and as management executes the company’s IVL 2.0 strategy to optimize its manufacturing model, reduce costs, and enhance competitiveness.

Indorama Ventures’ reported Adjusted EBITDA  of $370 million in 2Q24, a 1% rise QoQ and a decline of 11% YoY. The company’s sales volumes increased 1% YoY due to subdued economic activity, but also signaling the end of a prolonged period of destocking that began in late 2022. Operating rates for the group increased from 74% to 76% in 1H24, although still at lower-than-average levels, signifying the weak global economic conditions. On a proforma basis, considering asset optimization actions, operating rates increase to 81%.

The Indovinya segment posted a robust performance on improved margins and rebounding demand for its high value-add downstream products. The packaging business, newly renamed ‘Indovida’, also performed well due to its leading footprint in emerging markets.

Looking ahead, Indorama Ventures is encouraged by the gradual improvement in the operating environment as customer inventory levels normalize, which is expected to spur further growth in volumes across all segments in 2H24. The company also expects to benefit in 2H24 from its shale gas advantage in the U.S, reflected in ethylene crack margins, positively impacting its integrated MEG business. Continued higher import prices in Western markets will enhance the company’s competitiveness as a leading local operator.

While the polyester industry manages the downcycle, Indorama Ventures’ experienced management team is working hard to deleverage and optimize the business under the company’s IVL 2.0 strategy to emerge stronger and drive enhanced earnings quality in an era of higher interest rates and a substantially changed industry landscape. As flagged at its Capital Markets Day on 6 March this year and reaffirmed in its Mid year strategic update on 24 July, the company is making substantial progress with IVL 2.0. In 2Q24, it recorded an impairment and expense provision of $666 million ($543 million is non cash) under its asset optimization program to improve manufacturing efficiency and reduce fixed costs. The cost benefits will start from 3Q24 and amount to about $170 million in savings in 2025. The company expects that the remaining asset optimizations will not have material impairments.

Management is continuing its intense focus on managing costs and extracting efficiencies, including its Olympus 2.0 program. These efforts achieved $47 million in savings in 1H24 ($29 million in 2Q24). The company is continually optimizing its capital expenditure, with capex supporting investments in sustainability—such as recycling in India—and automation and digital technology, as well as ongoing projects.

A key part of Indorama Ventures’ transformation journey is the implementation of new digital and AI tools to drive operational excellence in key areas, including manufacturing, commercial, procurement, sales, supply chain, and finance excellence. A significant portion of operations now have the new SAP S/4HANA ERP platform as a digital core, while rollouts of other world-leading solutions are ongoing in a phased approach through to 2026.

Segment Performances
The Combined PET (CPET) with Intermediate Chemicals segment posted an Adjusted EBITDA of $234 million in 2Q24, a 6% decline QoQ and a 25% decrease YoY, due to a one-time upside impact from a campaign run of NDC campaign in 1Q24 and as reduced industry spreads weighed on the Integrated PET business. A cracker outage at Lake Charles in the U.S also resulted in a $17-18 million impact to EBITDA. The cracker is gradually up and running in 3Q24.

The Indovinya segment recorded a strong Adjusted EBITDA of $98 million, a 41% gain QoQ and 85% YoY on increased volumes as destocking eased, supported by demand for downstream chemical surfactants amid the U.S crops season.

The Fibers segment recorded Adjusted EBITDA of $39 million, a 2% rise QoQ and a 19% gain YoY amid improved sales strategies and a robust focus on cost management, even as volumes declined, particularly in the Lifestyle business.

CARBIOS and SASA, a manufacturer of polyester, fiber, filament yarn, polyester-based polymers, specialty polymers and intermediates, have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to cooperate through SASA’s potential acquisition of a license for CARBIOS’ unique PET biorecycling technology. This licensing agreement would allow SASA to construct and operate an enzymatic depolymerization plant in Adana, Turkey, with a capacity of 100,000 tons per year of prepared PET waste, and would give access to a circular recycling technology, enabling the production of polyester pellets, fibers and textiles from various waste sources, including polyester textile waste. With CARBIOS' biorecycling technology, SASA would diversify its offering to meet the growing global demand for sustainable materials in the textile industry, primarily catering to the European market.

Less than 1% of textile waste is currently recycled into new textile fibers^[1].  With European regulations moving towards the incorporation of more recycled content (at least 20% of recycled fibers by 2030), demand for recycled polyester in the EU is anticipated to increase, naturally positioning Turkey as a major producer alongside Asian countries.  In this context, SASA is striving to become the largest supplier of high value-added polyester in the region and beyond. To achieve this, SASA aims to introduce recycling as part of its activities, which already encompass the whole value chain from PET production to fiber and textile conversion. CARBIOS’ PET biorecycling technology plays an important part in SASA’s ongoing transformation strategy, which includes back integration, capacity expansion, even higher competitiveness, as well as circularity.

CARBIOS has developed a enzymatic depolymerization technology that enables efficient and solvent-free recycling of PET plastic and textile waste into virgin-like products. CARBIOS has ambitious plans to become a leading technology provider in the recycling of PET by 2035. After the recent announcement of a joint Letter of Intent with Zhink Group in China, this new Letter of Intent for a potential licensing agreement in Europe confirms global traction for CARBIOS biorecycling technology, and marks another significant step in the international roll-out of its licensing model. In addition to the world’s first industrial-scale enzymatic PET recycling plant which is currently under construction in Longlaville, France, this potential plant in Turkey would process PET waste that is currently not recyclable using conventional recycling technologies.

[1] System Circularity and Innovative Recycling of Textiles | Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (europa.eu)