From the Sector

From November 2nd to November 6th, the leading denim innovator ISKO joined leading industry professionals from around the world at the 2020 Textile Sustainability Conference.

The Textile Exchange Sustainability Conference (November 2-6) is a formative event aimed at highlighting best practice and sustainability-related emerging trends and opportunities in the fashion industry.

Whilst taking the pulse of the evolving impact of international circumstances, ISKO participated in the event as a trusted partner and member of Textile Exchange since March 2019. The company took the chance to exhibit its R-TWO™ technology, through which it has achieved Textile Exchange certifications across its 25,000 products: these are at either the Content Claim Standard, Global Recycled Standard, Organic Content Standard or Recycled Claim Standard levels, ensuring trust and certainty in chain of custody and material sourcing.

This program reduces raw material impact and highlights its ambitious Life-cycle Assessments (LCAs) project to develop verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPD®s) assessing the impact of all the products in its portfolio. The company also presented its first Sustainability Impact Report, which sets bold targets and provides a detailed overview of the company’s work within the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and ILO standard frameworks. These were also a central theme of the conference, focusing on Science Based Target initiatives and the crucial role of embedding these into business strategy.

The AVK – Industrievereinigung Verstärkte Kunststoffe e.V. – has once again announced the winners of its prestigious Innovation Awards. Decided by an expert jury, the awards recognise and honour sustainable innovations in three categories: “Innovative Products/Applications”, “Innovative Processes” and “Research and Science”.

Overview of all the winners in the three categories:

Category “Innovative Products/Applications”
1st Place: “Directly-cooled electric motor with integral lightweight housing made of fibre reinforced polymers - DEmiL” – developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT, Pfinztal, Germany, in partnership with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd.*

2nd Place: “Intrinsically Reprocessable, Repairable and Recyclable (3R) thermoset composites for more Competitive and Sustainable Industries” – developed by cidetec, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain*

3rd Place: “Fireproof composite metal hybrid structure – LEO® fire protection sandwich with integrated Hyconnect steel-glass hybrid connector” – developed by SAERTEX GmbH & Co. KG and Hyconnect GmbH.*

Category “Innovative Processes”
1st Place: “Robotised Injection Moulding (ROBIN)” – developed by Robin, Dresden with the Institute for Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology at the TU Dresden*

2nd Place: “Omega stringer from the roll” – developed by the German Aerospace Center, Braunschweig*

3rd Place: “Hybrid die-casting – manufacturing of intrinsic CFRP-aluminium composite structures in aluminium high-pressure die-casting” – developed by Faserinstitut Bremen e. V. with Fraunhofer IFAM, Bremen*

Category “Research and Science”:
1st Place: “New high-temperature resistant UP resins and toughening agents” – developed by Münster University of Applied Sciences with BASF SE Global New Business Development, Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research e. V., Saertex multicom GmbH*

2nd Place: “Scientific basis for the industrial application of the thermoplastic resin transfer moulding (T-RTM) process” – developed by Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT, Pfinztal*

3rd Place: “The material- and energy-efficient production of turbine struts by the integrative combination of thermoset fibre reinforced materials” – developed by the Institute of Polymer Technology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg with the German Aerospace Center, Gubesch Group, Schmidt WFT, Siebenwurst, Raschig.

Award ceremony on the Internet for the first time
For the first time, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the award ceremony took place as an online event on 12 November 2020. Many of the award winners’ innovations will be presented again in this year’s AVK Innovation Award brochure. This will be available online: https://www.avk-tv.de/innovationaward.php

*Please see attached document for more information.

Archroma, a global leader in specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, today announced the release of its third Sustainability Report.

Prepared again in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, and covering Fiscal Year 2019, the report outlines the company’s progress on its priority sustainability topics, such as human health and environmental safety, resource efficiency, sustainable sourcing and product stewardship, as well as diversity & inclusion, and talent management.

All activities described in the report support the 3 pillars of “The Archroma Way to a Sustainable World: Safe, efficient, enhanced. It’s our nature." This approach is the company’s guiding light in challenging the status quo to making its operations and its value chains sustainable.

“As our industries navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, the temptation for some will be to push back on the urgent need to address the climate crisis. We cannot allow that. Because after all, it's our nature”, Heike van de Kerkhof, CEO of Archroma, comments.

The report can be downloaded here.

• Sateri pledges to Be World’s Leading Net-Positive Fibre Producer

Sateri, one of the world’s largest viscose producer, has launched its sustainability vision for 2030 to guide the company’s strategic growth in the coming decade. The Vision is anchored around four key pillars in response to environmental and social challenges faced by the cellulosic fibre industry: Climate and Ecosystem Protection, Closed Loop Production, Innovation and Circularity, and Inclusive Growth.

The Vision comes with a time-bound roadmap and measurable targets. It encompasses notable targets including net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, achieving 98% Sulphur recovery rate at all its mills by 2025, utilising textile waste and produce viscose products with 50% recycled content by 2025 and 100% by 2030, and supporting more than 300,000 local families and smallholder farmers to develop sustainable livelihoods.

Highlighting the significance of the Vision to the company, Sateri’s President Allen Zhang said, “As a raw material supplier, Sateri will do our part and respond to the urgent need to decouple growth from further resource impact. This is something that will underpin our growth, in addition to QPC (Quality, Productivity, Cost) and continuous improvement which are well-embedded in the company.”*

Sateri’s 2030 Vision was conceived after months of discussions with management members and external stakeholders including customers, brands and NGOs. The process was facilitated by BSR, a sustainability consultancy, led by its Asia Pacific Vice President, Jeremy Prepscius.

“The challenges facing the garment industry require all value chain participants to invest, innovate and integrate sustainability into their business models. This requires leadership and alignment and will need determination to succeed, which is what Sateri is striving to do,” said Prepscius.*

In the coming months, Sateri will form workgroups to develop action plans to deliver on the identified targets. Progress towards realising Sateri 2030 Vision will be reported in the company’s annual sustainability report and online sustainability dashboard.

Read more about Sateri 2030 Vision: www.sateri.com/sustainability/vision2030/

*Please see attached document for more information

EFI™ Reggiani, a leading developer and manufacturer of cutting-edge technologies and sustainable solutions for the textile industry, will take part in the World Textile Information Network (WTiN) Innovate Textile & Apparel Virtual Trade Show from October 15 to 30.

Like many industry groups around the world that have begun re-thinking tradeshows out of concern for public health, WTiN launched the tradeshow as an online event designed to reconnect innovation in the value chain.

EFI Reggiani textile solutions to be featured at the event include a complete range of digital and analogue printers and pre- and post-treatment lines. Plus, the event’s display of EFI Reggiani technologies will also feature one of the industry’s broadest line-ups of high-end, superior-quality textile inks, together with short, sustainable processes – such as pigment and direct sublimation printing – as well as greener, eco-friendly denim dyeing solutions.

During the Innovate tradeshow, EFI Reggiani will also take part in the 20 October “Clash of the Titans” roundtable chaired by WTiN, which will bring together industry leaders to debate the future of textile inkjet printing.

Eleven leading companies from six countries founded the Renewable Carbon Initiative (RCI) in September 2020 under the leadership of nova-Institute (Germany). The aim of the initiative is to support and speed up the transition from fossil carbon to renewable carbon for all organic chemicals and materials.

Besides Lenzing, these ten companies are founding members of the RCI, which also form the Core Advisory Board: Beiersdorf (Germany), Cosun Beet Company (The Netherlands), Covestro (Germany), Henkel (Germany), LanzaTech (USA), NESTE (Finland), SHV Energy (The Netherlands), Stahl (The Netherlands), Unilever (UK) and UPM (Finland).

The Renewable Carbon Initiative (RCI) addresses the core problem of climate change, which is extracting and using additional fossil carbon from the ground. The vision is stated clearly: By 2050, fossil carbon shall be completely substituted by renewable carbon, which is carbon from alternative sources: biomass, direct CO2 utilisation and recycling. The founders are convinced that this is the only way for chemicals, plastics and other organic materials to become sustainable, climate-friendly and part of the circular economy – part of the future.

Robert van de Kerkhof, Chief Commercial Officer of the Lenzing Group: „We at Lenzing believe that we need to create strategic partnerships to implement systemic change. Therefore, we support the Renewable Carbon Initiative. First of all, because it is the right thing to do and, second, it is also fully aligned with our corporate strategy. Therefore, we are part of the RCI from the beginning and its commitment to start acting now.”

Michael Carus, CEO of nova-Institute and head of the Renewable Carbon Initiative: “This is about a fundamental change in the chemical industry. Just as the energy industry is being converted to renewable energies, so renewable carbon will become the new foundation of the future chemical and material industry. The initiative starts today and will be visibly present from now on. We want to accelerate the change.”

The main avenues on which the initiative wants to deliver change are threefold. One, the initiative strives to create cross-industry platforms that will demonstrate feasibility of renewable carbon in tangible activities. Two, one main target will be to advocate for legislation, taxation and regulation changes to give renewable carbon a level commercial playing field to play on. Finally, the third avenue will be to create a wider pull for sustainable options by raising awareness and understanding of renewable carbon level amongst the business community and the wider public.

The Renewable Carbon Initiative has made a powerful start with eleven international member companies and the personal support of more than 100 industry experts. The initiative hopes to gain many additional members and supporters in the upcoming months to keep the strong momentum of the initiative. Working together, RCI will support and accelerate the transition from fossil to renewable carbon for all organic chemicals and materials.

In the end, the aim is as complex as it is simple: renewable energy and renewable carbon for a sustainable future. Within the RCI Lenzing will especially focus on further greening up the textile and nonwoven businesses. Here we will promote this concept and encourage our partners to become a part of this vision.

More information about the Renewable Carbon Initiative can be found on www.renewable-carbon-initiative.com.

Sustainability and environmental responsibility are important developments for the current design of productions and products. In order to obtain a comprehensive evaluation of the potential of bio-based composites, the AZL, together with an industry consortium, is investigating the market potential, future applications and relevant technologies for bio-based composite materials. The 5-month market and technology study will start on October 22nd, 2020 and is open to interested companies. Companies such as REHAU, an Automotive Tier 1, Asahi Kasei, Johns Manville, Mahr Metering Systems and several material manufacturers are participating in the study.

Bio-plastics are well established in industry, especially in packaging applications. The market for biopolymers is expected to grow from USD 10.5 billion in 2020 to USD 27.9 billion in 2025. At the same time, bio-based raw materials, such as natural fibers, are available on the market in a cost-effective manner. Composites with wood or natural fiber content are also increasingly used in products.

Dr. Michael Emonts, Managing Partner of AZL: "Together with our partner companies we want to identify hidden business potential for composites with bio-based materials. To do so, we will reapply our established approach for market and technology studies: Based on a detailed market analysis, we will dive deep into the technological evaluation of technologies, applications and business cases.”

Based on a detailed market segmentation, AZL's technology experts analyze the various market segments in terms of their size, growth potential, relevant players and existing and future applications. For the identified applications, the participants in the study will receive detailed insight into the respective technical and legal requirements as well as an overview of value chains, processes and materials. In the following, the strengths and challenges of bio-composites compared to conventional materials are elaborated. The consortium will select the components with the highest potential, for which suitable production scenarios will be developed and analyzed in terms of costs in a business case analysis.

"We are participating in the AZL study to identify and evaluate new product areas with bio-materials. The technological analyses of the AZL studies have already helped us in the past to initiate new developments," says Dr. Steven Schmidt, Director Technology Platforms Materials at REHAU, explaining the motivation for working with the AZL and the industry consortium. "As one of the 50 Sustainability & Climate Leaders, we at REHAU are incorporating environmentally friendly materials into more and more products. Wherever the company is active - from the furniture and construction industries to the automotive industry - REHAU is already developing and manufacturing high-quality products from recycled raw materials. By 2025, REHAU plans to increase its recycling rate across the Group to significantly more than 15 percent and at the same time reduce CO2 emissions by at least 30 percent," adds Dr. Steven Schmidt.

Bio-composites will also be the topic of the upcoming Lightweight TechTalk by AZL on September 29, 2020. Experts from industry and academia will give technology and market insights on sustainability and recycling of composites in 6 presentations. Registration is free of charge at: https://azl-aachen-gmbh.de/termine/recycling-of-composites/.

The kick-off of the project will take place on October 22nd, 2020 in the form of a video conference. Further background information on the project can be found under the following link: https://azl-aachen-gmbh.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2020-251_OP_Bio-Bases_Composites.pdf

• Finnish coating and gelcoat manufacturer Finnester strengthens its activities in the D-A-CH region with AMAC

As of September 15th 2020, the Finland-based coating and gelcoat manufacturer Finnester Coatings Oy strengthens its activities in German speaking countries, the so-called D- A-CH region, comprising Germany, Austria and Switzerland with Dr. Michael Effing from AMAC.

Finnester is a pioneer in developing high-quality coatings and gelcoat for both urface spread as well as flame and thermal insulation of composite solutions in different fields of industries. Their portfolio comprises products based on Polyester coatings for fire and thermal protection as well as ceramifying polymers like HybridRED, compliant with the requirements of the standards e.g. EN45545-2. In
order to develop new business opportunities in the D-A-CH region for the endmarkets building and infrastructure, transportation, marine, industrial and electrical industries, Finnester is cooperating with AMAC to accelerate the process of locating suitable partnerships.

Ari Hokkanen, CEO of Finnester: “Finnester has developed unique high-quality coatings. The cooperation with AMAC will accelerate our growth ambitions and supports us in finding new business opportunities. We are happy to benefit from AMAC and Dr. Effing’s long-term experience as a pioneer in the composites industry and his high-quality network along the entire value chain.” Dr. Effing, CEO of AMAC GmbH confirms: “Fire-retardant coatings are very important to the composites industry in order to be successful especially in rail, fast ferry and building & infrastructure applications with their tough fire standards. The DACH region represents more than 30 % of the European market and is the key target for Finnester. I am looking forward to supporting Finnester with their unique offerings and connecting them with key players in the D-A-CH region.”

Sappi Europe received a platinum score in the latest EcoVadis rating. On of the leading global providers of sustainable woodfibre products and solutions retained its top position from the previous year among the leading one per cent of all companies assessed which exhibit high activity and responsibility with regard to corporate social responsibility (CSR).

• Sappi Europe receives top rating for sustainability
• Unlocking the power of renewable resources to benefit people, communities and the planet

As part of its clear strategic goals in relation to sustainability and environmental protection, Sappi reached a new milestone. A market leader in environmentally friendly packaging and graphic papers received a platinum score in this year’s sustainability rating from EcoVadis, establishing itself as one of the top performers, with a score well above the overall average. The EcoVadis rating covers a total of 21 criteria, which in turn are divided into four general areas: environment, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.

Encouraging sustainable operations across the entire value chain have been a key part of Sappi’s corporate strategy for many years. Sappi’s entire business model and investments in research and development are based on the use of renewable materials. The environment management approach of the global company includes a variety of strategies designed to improve its ecological footprint. For 2025, Sappi has linked its sustainability targets to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Sappi has long held principles based around People, Planet and Prosperity and with  a heightened focus on seven of the SDG’s they believe they can deliver  real impact and contribute to the global sustainable development agenda.

The platinum rating from EcoVadis demonstrates that Sappi not only talks about sustainability, but actively works towards ensuring it in a very practical way. The whole world is talking about sustainable solutions and looking for alternatives to fossil fuels. Sappi is focused on providing product solutions to the market. A few weeks ago, the market leader presented a number of solutions relating to functional paper packaging as part of its ‘Pro Planet Paper Packaging’ campaign to enable sustainable, high-quality packaging for food and non-food products.

Sappi Europe is extremely proud to have obtained the EcoVadis Platinum rating and while certification and recognition go a long way to helping our work we also acknowledge at Sappi Europe that we are part of a global community that need to continue to strive in all our business areas to create the change needed to help our customers become truly sustainable. The recyclable nature of products derived from woodfibre are essential to creating a more circular economy, where the world’s resources are kept in use longer and more creatively. By responsibly sourcing materials, reducing material waste and emissions , carefully considering product end-of-life, and aiming to use the full potential of trees, we actively promote more sustainable systems explains Sarah Price, Sappi Europe’s Sustainability Manager

The coronavirus pandemic and its massive impact on the automotive industry led to an un-precedented market slump in the first half of 2020 and a corresponding revenue decline at Autoneum. Revenue in local currencies fell by –32.7% compared to the prior-year period, and in Swiss francs by –36.8% to CHF 730.6 million. The turnaround program for the North American sites made further progress in the first six months and is showing the targeted results. However, they were clearly overcompensated by the massive impact of the corona-virus crisis, which led to a negative net result of CHF –54.9 million despite comprehensive cost flexibilization measures.

Like the entire automobile industry, Autoneum was massively impacted by the effects of the corona-virus pandemic in the first half of the year. The temporary plant closures at almost all customers in every region, especially in the second quarter of the year, not only led to an unprecedented market collapse, but also to a production stop at all 55 Autoneum sites. Starting in February in China and one month later in all other regions, vehicle manufacturers temporarily shut down production completely. The corresponding massive drop in global vehicle production led to a slump in revenue at Autoneum of –32.7% in local currencies. This reflects the development of the market in the first half of 2020, which contracted by –33.2% year-on-year. Revenue in Swiss francs at Autoneum fell by –36.8% to CHF 730.6 million (prior-year period: CHF 1 156.1 million). Revenue development in all Business Groups outperformed the respective markets, particularly in Asia and the SAMEA (South America, Middle East and Africa) region.

 Like the entire automobile industry, Autoneum was massively impacted by the effects of the corona-virus pandemic in the first half of the year. The temporary plant closures at almost all customers in every region, especially in the second quarter of the year, not only led to an unprecedented market collapse, but also to a production stop at all 55 Autoneum sites. Starting in February in China and one month later in all other regions, vehicle manufacturers temporarily shut down production com-pletely. The corresponding massive drop in global vehicle production led to a slump in revenue at Autoneum of –32.7% in local currencies. This reflects the development of the market in the first half of 2020, which contracted by –33.2% year-on-year. Revenue in Swiss francs at Autoneum fell by –36.8% to CHF 730.6 million (prior-year period: CHF 1 156.1 million). Revenue development in all Business Groups outperformed the respective markets, particularly in Asia and the SAMEA (South America, Middle East and Africa) region.

Autoneum promptly responded to the pandemic-related market slump by adopting extensive cost-cutting measures in all regions. These include the reduction of employee costs by, among other things, adjusting time accounts, introducing short-time work at eligible locations and temporary layoffs as well as headcount reduction, mainly among temporary workers. In addition, operating expenditures were limited to the absolutely necessary. The investment volume for 2020, already reduced from previous years, was downsized even further. Autoneum continues to benefit in this regard from the high level of investments undertaken in recent years.

 Although the coronavirus crisis and the measures taken to contain it dominated Autoneum’s course of business in the first half of 2020, the Company achieved necessary operational and financial im-provements during this period. The comprehensive turnaround program for the North American sites made further progress and is on track. Efficiency improvements already achieved there had a posi-tive effect on the figures of the first half-year, but were significantly overcompensated by the substan-tial impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Savings and cost flexibilization measures taken immediately and implemented worldwide in view of the revenue loss could not offset the ongoing, capacity-related fixed costs. This led at the Group level to a negative EBIT of CHF –31.8 million (prior-year period: CHF 16.4 million), which equates to an EBIT margin of –4.4% (prior-year period: 1.4%). The net result decreased because of the severe revenue shortfall to CHF –54.9 million (prior-year period: CHF –6.0 million).

Outlook
For 2020 Autoneum expects revenue to develop at market level. Although customers’ production volumes should increase again in the second half of 2020 compared with the first semester, latest fore-casts indicate that they will remain clearly below the level of the second half of 2019. Immediately implemented and ongoing cost reduction measures as well as further operational optimizations also within the turnaround program in North America will lead to improvements in the second half of the year. Due to the current uncertainties, a reliable statement on the net result for the full year 2020 thus cannot be made. With regard to the mid-term targets, a recovery of the profitability level is expected, but it will largely depend on the market development.