From the Sector

The 50th INNATEX fair opens its gates to a Green Fashion trade audience from 29 to 31 July 2022 in Hofheim-Wallau, near Frankfurt. At this anniversary fair, over 200 labels will be exhibiting, a wide range of experts and organisations will be gathering, and elaborate features and facilities are planned for the Rhein-Main exhibition centre.

According to INNATEX project manager Alexander Hitzel, one highlight is the Community Area, which brings together a range of experts. In short lounge talks, they reveal insights into what they are currently working on and a dialogue format encourages personal discussion. Mirjam Smend, whom we know well from Greenstyle Munich, introduces her recently launched sustainability magazine, Pureviu, and facilitates the morning talks.

Alongside standard bodies such as IVN and GOTS, which have taken part in INNATEX for many years, younger projects such as Fairmodel and the digital platform Retraced will be part of this special area. Fairtrade Germany, Femnet and the VDMD are to be found there too. Almost all of them are joining in with the Ask Me Anything dialouge format. Interested attendees can pre-book a slot of up to ten minutes for a personal discussion with the expert of their choice.

The supportive activities that had to be suspended during the pandemic are enjoying a comeback at this year’s summer fair: five newcomers to INNATEX designated DesignDiscoveries will be presenting their projects in another special area. Vegtus, from Barcelona, produces sneakers and other products from cactus leather. Natural textiles such as organic cotton are used by Lounge Cherie, a yoga fashion label.

Products for kids through to seniors, classics and streetwear, footwear and accessories
Nordlicht similarly relies on recyclable, renewable natural fibres for its outerwear, bags and accessories. The field of circular fashion is also served by the remaining two Design Discoveries. Both Nature is Future, with its handmade sneakers, and Freibeutler, with its functional rucksacks, make extensive use of recycled materials, while also paying due attention to broader sustainability aspects.

Regular INNATEX exhibitors include Lana, Chapati and Didymos, all of whom are also celebrating anniversaries. Labels such as Anokho with their colourful accessories in jacquard fabrics and Danish label Angel Circle with its plus-size fashion are exhibiting for the first time.

Albstadt-based Mayer & Cie. has been named a Top 100 award-winner for the third time as one of Germany’s most innovative small and mid-range businesses. The jury made special mention of the circular knitting and braiding machine manufacturer’s innovative processes. At the centre of the family firm’s further digital development is on the aim to boost its customers’ productivity. Last Friday, 25 June, members of the Mayer & Cie. management received the award from the science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar at the SMB summit in Frankfurt am Main.

For some time now, the focus of development work at Mayer & Cie. has been on lean management in assembly processes, on optimisation of aftersales service, including setting up an online shop for spare parts, and on product lifecycle management, or PLM, which stands for a concept of seamless integration of all the information that arises during a product’s lifecycle. A clean data structure is the basis for these measures, it’s called the “digital backbone”. It means that all product data is processed in the same database and all information is available only once and can be downloaded immediately.

In all, 436 companies, including about ten per cent from machinery and plant engineering, competed for the Top 100 seal of innovation this year. Nearly 300 were successful and were congratulated in person by Ranga Yogeshwar at the SMB summit. He noted that the award winners set a role model example. “Innovators are thought leaders; they are always pioneers too,” said Yogeshwar, who mentors the competition. “They put their products to the test and ask themselves what an ecological society and a climate-oriented world will require of them. And they check the opportunities and challenges that increasing digitisation will bring for forms of cooperation, social relationships and, with them, for employee retention.”

• Target markets: automotive, furnishings, sports and technical apparel
• New product entry: radipeople® line of personal protective equipment

RadiciGroup is at Techtextil 2022, the leading European trade fair for technical textiles, taking place in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, from 21 to 24 June. On display in the RadiciGroup exhibition area are the Group’s latest products for the automotive, furnishings and apparel markets: from nylon and polyester yarn, including biosource and recycled lines, to nonwovens and the new radipeople® line of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Indeed, at Techtextil, RadiciGroup is showcasing RENYCLE®, a yarn obtained from recycled nylon; REPETABLE®, a polyester yarn from post-consumer recycled plastic bottles; RESPUNSIBLE®, a nonwoven fabric from recycled polypropylene; and BIOFEEL®, a brand identifying a yarn line obtained from renewable sources of both nylon and polyester.

Moreover, RadiciGroup is participating in a forum organized by the Technical Textiles Section of Sistema Moda Italia in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ICE) (Hall 12.1 – Stand C58), with the goal of introducing product innovations not only coming from a single manufacturer, but also from an innovative synergistic approach all along the supply chain, from raw materials to finished products. An example of this synergistic collaboration is the “Mars Spacesuit”, recently tested in the USA by analogue astronauts as part of a space medicine project designed to measure the vital signs of future astronauts and develop technologies to support the simulation of life in space and planetary environments. RadiciGroup teamed up with major Italian textile companies and supplied the materials to make the suits for the six analogue astronauts participating in the mission and coordinated the development of the technologies needed to create the technicalwear for use in extreme environmental conditions.

Yanfeng, a global automotive supplier, recognized the performance of its European suppliers with its annual Supplier Awards. During a ceremony at the company’s European Headquarters in Neuss, a total of 13 suppliers yesterday received the awards in two categories.

With one Distinguished Supplier award and twelve Supplier Excellence awards in five sub-categories, YF evaluated its suppliers according to several criteria. The company’s vision of technology and innovation, as well as sustainability, were particularly important. Moreover, quality, cost, service and customer satisfaction were also assessed.

The award recipients from Europe were:

Distinguished Supplier Award:
- BASF Polyurethanes GmbH, Germany

Supplier Excellence Award – Quality:
- Industrias Alegre S.A., Spain

Supplier Excellence Award – Customer Satisfaction:
- DSSI International, LLC, Slovakia
- SIGIT d.o.o., Serbia

Supplier Excellence Award – Sustainability:
- HOFFMANN + VOSS GmbH, Germany

Supplier Excellence Award – Technology and Innovation:
- SemsoTec GmbH, Germany
- Lightworks GmbH, Germany

Supplier Excellence Award – Service:
- CTP, Czech Republic
- Milsped d.o.o., Serbia
- Prewave GmbH, Austria
- Schneider Electric SE, France
- SPARETECH GmbH, Germany
- Weber GmbH & Co. KG, Germany

SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. of Wakayama, Japan, along with its Italian subsidiary SHIMA SEIKI ITALIA S.p.A., will be participating in the Techtextil exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany from the 21st till the 24th of June 2022.

On display will be SHIMA SEIKI’s latest innovation in flat knitting technology as applied to the field of technical textiles—a prototype weft knitting machine capable of multi-axial yarn insertion. Fabrics produced on this machine use inlay technique for the production of hybrid textiles that combine the stretch characteristics of knitted fabrics with the stability of woven textiles, suited to various technical applications. To this, warp yarn is inserted to further expand its capability to produce 3D-shaped carbon fiber and composite preforms directly on the machine. This is made possible by taking advantage of the fact that flat knitting as a textile production method is capable of producing end products that are shaped-to-form and with added thickness. Compared to current methods of preform production, savings in post-processing time, material, labor and associated costs are immense, realizing efficient and sustainable production. SHIMA SEIKI’s own yarn unwinding technology is also used for optimum yarn feed and tension for use with technical yarns that are otherwise difficult to knit. Industrial textile samples knit on the multi-axial machine will also be available for examination on-site.

SHIMA SEIKI's SDS®-ONE APEX4 3D design system will be available for demonstrations as well. Of particular interest should be its ultra-realistic simulation capability that realizes Virtual Sampling. When countless variations must be evaluated before arriving at a final design, virtual product samples can be used to streamline the decision-making process by minimizing the enormous amount of time, cost and material normally associated with producing actual samples for each variation. When approved, the same data can be converted to machine data for immediate knitting, significantly reducing lead times.

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.

The European Pultrusion Technology Association (EPTA) has published a report from its latest conference, which focuses on advances in sustainability and recycling.

More than 130 professionals from the global pultrusion community gathered at the 16th World Pultrusion Conference in Paris on 5-6 May 2022. Organised by EPTA in collaboration with the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA), the event featured 25 international speakers sharing insight on market trends, developments in materials, processing and simulation technologies, and innovative pultruded applications in key markets such as building and infrastructure, transportation and wind energy.

‘Bio-pultrusion’:  
Composites based on natural fibres offer a number of benefits, including low density and high specific strength, vibration damping, and heat insulation. The German Institutes for Textile and Fiber Research Denkendorf (DITF) are developing pultrusion processes using bio-based resins and natural fibres. Projects include the BioMat Pavilion at the University of Stuttgart, a lightweight structure which combines ‘bamboo-like’ natural fibre-based pultruded profiles with a tensile membrane.

Applications for recycled carbon fibre (rCF):
The use of rCF in composite components has the potential to reduce their cost and carbon footprint. However, it is currently used to a limited extent since manufacturers are uncertain about the technical performance of available rCF products, how to process them, and the actual benefits achievable. Fraunhofer IGCV is partnering with the Institute for Textile Technology (ITA) in the MAI ÖkoCaP project to investigate the technical, ecological and economic benefits of using rCF in different industrial applications. The results will be made available in a web-based app.

Circularity and recycling:
The European Composites Industry Association (EuCIA) is drafting a circularity roadmap for the composites industry. It has collaborated with the European Cement Association (CEMBUREAU) on a position paper for the EU Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) which outlines the benefits of co-processing end-of-life composites in cement manufacturing, a recycling solution that is compliant with the EU’s Waste Framework Directive and in commercial operation in Germany. Initial studies have indicated that co-processing with composites has the potential to reduce the global warming impact of cement manufacture by up to 16%. Technologies to allow recovery of fibre and/or resin from composites are in development but a better understanding of the life cycle assessment (LCA) impact of these processes is essential. EuCIA’s ‘circularity waterfall,’ a proposed priority system for composites circularity, highlights the continued need for co-processing.

Sustainability along the value chain:
Sustainability is essential for the long-term viability of businesses. Resin manufacturer AOC’s actions to improve sustainability include programmes to reduce energy, waste and greenhouse gas emissions from operations, the development of ‘greener’ and low VOC emission resins, ensuring compliance with chemicals legislation such as REACH, and involvement in EuCIA’s waste management initiatives. Its sustainable resins portfolio includes styrene-free and low-styrene formulations and products manufactured using bio-based raw materials and recycled PET.

Report Offers INDA Members Key Metrics to Assist in Strategic Planning and Investments

INDA, the Association of the Nonwovens Fabrics Industry, announces publication of the ninth edition of the annual North American Nonwovens Supply Report for its members.

Based on extensive research, producer surveys and interviews with industry leaders, the report provides an overall view of North American supply, including the key metrics of capacity, production and operating rates, in addition to regional trade, through the year 2021. The 75-page report contains 36 figures and 11 tables.

Findings from this year’s Supply Report include:

• North American capacity continues to increase with investments being made across all the processes and for a variety of end-uses. Production output exceeded that of new capacity, resulting in the industry’s nameplate capacity utilization increasing year-over-year, for the fourth consecutive year.
   
• In 2021, capacity of nonwovens in North America reached 5.540 million tonnes, an increase from the previous year of 1.8% (net growth of 98,300 tonnes) and an improvement over the previous year’s pandemic-impacted growth rate of 0.5%.
   
• The industry was able to quickly react to the demand for electrostatically charged fine-fiber meltblown used in the manufacture of respirators and pleated face masks. Twenty-two meltblown lines were added in 2020, resulting in 7.2% year-over-year growth rate for meltblown. In 2021, another 12 lines were added, resulting in 8.5% annual growth over 2020.
   
• North American imports, in tonnage, increased 1.6% in 2021 as exports decreased 6.0%. Imports were led by China accounting for 39% of the imports into North America followed by India (14%) and Germany (9%). Even with the significant shifts in North American trade dynamics, nonwovens tend to stay where they are produced, with the net trade balance (imports less exports, 422,100 tonnes) accounting for less than ten percent of the region’s capacity

The report—and the quarterly INDA Market Pulse and monthly Price Trends Summary—are provided to the nearly 400 INDA member companies and associates as part of their membership. The data gathered for this annual report serves as the foundation for the both the biannual Global Nonwoven Market Report published in September of 2021 and the biannual North American Nonwovens Industry Outlook, which will be updated and published this fall.

The Trevira CS brand will be presented at Heimtextil 2022. This year the trade fair will be held as a one-time Summer Special from 21 to 24 June in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The booth will feature more than 200 fascinating, versatile, flame retardant Trevira CS fabrics.

These will be displayed in the Long Stay Apartment installation. Changing lifestyles, living and working arrangements as well as the housing shortage in countless large cities mean the Long Stay Apartment segment of the hospitality sector has experienced exponential growth, becoming ever more important. For this reason, it is the focus of this year’s Trevira CS booth. The presentation of the “Long Stay Apartment by Trevira CS” is intended to familiarise visitors – particularly interior architects, designers and furnishers – with the trendsetting, innovative uses of Trevira CS fabrics in the contract sector.

For the design of the apartment installation, the traditional Trevira CS Fabric Competition 2022 was announced at the end of 2021 and invited all customers to submit their latest Trevira CS products according to certain specifications. The winning fabrics will be announced at the trade fair and specially exhibited at the Trevira CS booth.

Director Marketing & Business Development Anke Vollenbröker: “Our exhibition gives exciting new insights into the modern concept of the Long Stay Apartment, presenting the live application of our customers’ Trevira CS innovations. An apartment designed for Long Stayers is a special challenge since it has to provide more than a hotel room or even an ordinary rental apartment: It needs to be an attractive temporary home while also offering the services and advantages of a hotel. We have made the Long Stay Apartment particularly “textile” and included submissions from all participants of our Trevira CS Fabric Competition 2022.”

With its current position paper, the Industrievereinigung Chemiefaser e.V. takes a stand on the intense discussions about an embargo against Russian natural gas supplies. The association believes that Germany's economic and global political future can only be secured with a strong industrial base and therefore, weighing up all positions and influencing factors and assessing the consequences for labour and the market economy, cannot support a short-term natural gas embargo on Russia.

An interruption of the continuous supply of natural gas would result in immense losses for the chemical fibre companies, which could even lead to the destruction of the industry in Germany. The losses are made up of technical damage caused by an uncoordinated shutdown of plants on the one hand and market-related consequential damage caused by lost production and a lack of product sales on the other.

Depending on the location and size of the plants, a short-term outage due to a lack of natural gas would result in average losses of EUR 5 million/plant. In addition, an ongoing daily loss would have to be expected which could be in the order of e.g. 250 000 EUR/day/plant, depending on the location. Furthermore, restarting the plants is questionable if supply chains could no longer be serviced and customers globally look for other suppliers in the meantime. Thus, entire sites would be at risk. With China's global market share in man-made fiber production already exceeding 70 %, a scenario is more than realistic that China will also take over these supply chains, thus leading to an even greater dependence on China.

The vast majority of power plants used for the production of man-made fibers, especially the highly efficient combined gas-and-steam power plants based on the principle of cogeneration with efficiencies of 90 %, are designed exclusively for the use of natural gas. Quite often, there are no technical facilities for operating gas turbines or steam boilers with fuels other than natural gas. Only in exceptional cases could a switch be made to mineral oil. However, even in these cases, the necessary stockpiling of mineral oil is designed only for a short-term failure of the gas burners. A change to base-load supply with mineral oil could take a time window of between 3 and 56 months, depending on the type of plant and taking into account licensing requirements. The use of hydrogen as an energy source is only possible in the very long term. In the few cases where natural gas can be substituted, investment costs of EUR 250 million/plant can be incurred, depending on the emission level of the converted plant.

A natural gas embargo imposed by the European Union on the Russian Federation would not only mean the cessation of production and the end for man-made fiber producers, but also for other industries such as basic chemicals, paper, metal production and glass and ceramics manufacturing, as well as their related sectors. As the German economic institute Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft Köln e. V. (IW Köln) concluded in its summary report 40/2022 of April 2022: "No one can accurately predict what future these businesses would then still have in Germany. That would be an unprecedented development."