From the Sector

• DiaperRecycle Wins RISE® Innovation Award for Technology that Transforms Used Diapers into Cat Litter

Product development and innovators in nonwovens & engineered materials gained expert insights on material science innovation and sustainability at the 12^th edition of RISE® — Research, Innovation & Science for Engineered Fabrics conference, organized by INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, and The Nonwovens Institute, North Carolina State University, Sept. 27-28 at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC.

More than 20 industry, academic, and government experts from across the globe presented technical developments in sessions focused on circularity and sustainable inputs from such sources as Polylactic Acid Polymers (PLA), natural fibers, biofibers, and waste products.

Highlights included presentations on Achieving Supply Chain Circularity, by Kat Knauer, Ph.D., Program Manager – V Research, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, NREL; The Global Plastic Crisis: Winners/Losers in the Marketplace, by Bryan Haynes, Ph.D., Senior Technical Director, Global Nonwovens, Kimberly-Clark Corporation; Sustainable Fibers – Development and the Future by Jason Locklin, Ph.D. Director, University of Georgia – New Materials Institute; PLA & PLA Blends: Practical Aspects of Extrusion by Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Ph.D., William A. Klopman Distinguished Professor, and Executive Director, The Nonwovens Institute, North Carolina State University; and Mitigation of Quat Incompatibility with Cotton and other Cellulosic-based Substrates, by Doug Hinchliffe, Ph.D., Research Molecular Biologist, USDA-ARS.

RISE® Innovation Award Winner
DiaperRecycle was awarded the RISE® Innovation Award for its innovative technology to recycle used diapers into absorbent and flushable cat litter. The annual award recognizes innovation in areas within and on the periphery of the nonwovens industry that use advanced science and engineering principles to develop unique or intricate solutions to problems and advance  nonwovens usage.

By diverting used diapers from households and institutions, and separating the plastic and fiber, DiaperRecycle strives to decrease the climate-changing emissions of diapers from landfills.  “I am thrilled and grateful to win this award — as it proves we are on the right track,” said Cynthia Wallis Barnicoat, CEO of DiaperRecycle.

Other award finalists included Binder BioHook® by Gottlieb Binder GmbH & Co. KG and Sero® hemp fibers from Bast Fibre Technologies, Inc. (BFT).

The 13^th edition of RISE® — Research, Innovation & Science for Engineered Fabrics conference will be held Sept. 12-13, 2023 at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC.

Following its deferral earlier this year, organisers announced that Cinte Techtextil China 2022 will take place from 7 – 9 December at the National Exhibition and Convention Center, Shanghai. The coming edition will address the latest trends, technologies and applications that are shaping the industry and market in the region.

“We are excited that Cinte Techtextil China is going ahead this year,” said Ms Wilmet Shea, Deputy General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd. “The technical textiles and nonwovens sectors are constantly innovating, and congregating regularly to share new materials and knowledge is essential for the industry. For this reason, this year’s fair has attracted international and domestic exhibitors from Austria, Belgium, Mainland China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the US to grow their business in the enticing Chinese market.”

The Chinese market performance has remained strong amidst the pandemic. According to the China Nonwovens & Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA), China’s nonwovens output has an average two-year growth rate of 14.8% despite the decreased demand for anti-pandemic materials. In addition, China strengthened its position as one of the key drivers of the global technical textiles market due to the rapid expansion of the automotive sector in the country which stimulates high demand for technical textiles.
To help international buyers stay connected with the Chinese market, Match Plus, the fair’s online business matching platform, will support foreign buyers achieve their sourcing goals despite travel limitations.

The fair is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd; the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; and the China Nonwovens & Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA).

• New fibre with a circular economy footprint obtained from cotton linters through a closed-loop process
• September 22-25, 2022, WSM-White Sustainable Milano, Visconti pavilion

For the second time in a row Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei takes part to White Sustainable Milano, the first fashion trade show entirely dedicated to the research and focus on new materials and technologies able to lead to a real ecological transition, developed in collaboration with Giusy Bettoni, CEO and founder C.L.A.S.S., and Marco Poli, Founder of The Style Lift.

After becoming a leader in formalwear lining, in the latest decade this fiber by Asahi Kasei has been able to evolve towards new consumer needs and desires, moving itself towards many different applications such as intimate, fashion, formalwear and activewear. Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei arrives at WSM with a new step into its journey and evolution in contemporary style with a new Staple-fibre that unlocks creative paths towards mew aesthetics, touch and sustainability.

A new yarn range that expands the company’s realm of applications for the fashion and luxury industry, including also knitwear, jersey and casualwear. Indeed, the fibre comes with a circular economy footprint obtained from cotton linters through a closed-loop process. Bemberg™ also ensures certified sustainability credentials through its transparent and traceable approach.

At WSM fair, the company proves it by unveiling a collection of t-shirts developed in collaboration with the MagnoLab smart network of Italian companies. Circular economy and environmental responsibility meet aesthetic research with a collaborative imprint.

The new t-shirt collection created in synergy with MagnoLab, a network of Biella-based companies bringing forward initiative and collabs related to sustainability and circular economy. Staple-fibre is the top ingredient of the collection. The cut t-shirts are presented both in sheer and blends with other certified fibers, including GOTS cottons and RWS wools, capable of enhancing both the hand of the final garment and the performance of the brand-new yarn.

27^th International Garment Machinery, Spare Parts and Sub-Industry Exhibition, one of the largest exhibitions in Europe ended with great interest. The IGM 2022 Exhibition, which hosted ready-to-wear investors and leading brands of the garment machinery sector in Istanbul for 4 days, satisfied the exhibitors with the number of foreign and domestic visitors and machinery sales.

IGM 2022, Turkey's first and only international exhibition in its field, has become the most comprehensive meeting point of the sector where all technologies used in garment and ready-to-wear production from sewing to cutting, ironing systems to packaging, embroidery to printing are exhibited. IGM 2022, the first international exhibition organized in the garment industry after the pandemic, turned into a platform where many firsts were achieved. Especially domestic machinery manufacturers introduced the latest technologies and innovations developed in the last 4 years for the first time at IGM 2022. In addition, the latest models of embroidery machines were exhibited in working condition only at IGM 2022. International buyers, who had the opportunity to observe and examine all the innovations in the apparel and ready-to-wear sector together, had the opportunity to direct their investments thanks to IGM 2022.

The exhibition, organized in partnership with Tüyap & Teknik Fairs Inc. and in cooperation with KOMİD- Garment Automation Machinery Manufacturers Association and İNSAD- Istanbul Embroidery Industrialists Association, was held at Tüyap Fair and Congress Center on September 8-11. The IGM 2022 Exhibition, which was attended by 100 companies and company representatives from countries including Turkey, Japan, USA, China, South Korea, Brazil, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Bangladesh and Iran, was visited by 9822 sector professionals from 64 countries, including 1483 international and 8339 domestic visitors.

Next Meeting on September 21-24, 2023
The next meeting of the IGM 2023 Exhibition will be held at Tüyap Fair and Congress Center between September 21-24, 2023. Considering the dates of the exhibitions organized in the same sector in different countries of the world and Europe and the gains of the sector, an exhibition calendar was determined for the IGM Exhibitions to be held biennially. IGM Exhibition will be organized in 2023 and the following odd years (such as 2025-2027) in order to prevent companies from being under the burden of exhibitions in terms of both time and budget due to participating in more than one exhibition in the same year.

As a sub-exhibitor of Oerlikon, BB Engineering will present its product range in the fields of extrusion, mixing and filtration as well as PET recycling with the VacuFil and VarioFil R+ systems at the K show 2022.

BB Engineering has been focusing its development work increasingly on recycling technologies for several years. In addition to extruders, filters and mixers that are suitable for both recycling processes and the processing of recyclate, BB Engineering offers a complete PET recycling plant called VacuFil.

With VacuFil, BB Engineering has developed an innovative PET LSP recycling process. The process combines gentle large-scale filtration and targeted IV regulation for consistently outstanding rPET melt quality. Thus, much more than simple "downcycling" is possible with VacuFil. VacuFil processes a wide range of input materials - post-production and post-consumer. The patented key component Visco+ vacuum filter removes volatile impurities quickly and reliably. VacuFil is a modular system that can be designed for different recycling applications. Simple granulation is possible, but also direct feeding into further processing, e.g. in the synthetic fiber spinning mill. BBE offers VacuFil in combination with its own VarioFil compact spinning plant to produce polyester yarn.

At the K show 2022, visitors can experience the VacuFil Visco+ recycling technology in operation with a connected VarioFil spinning plant and see live how recycling yarn is produced from PET waste.

ISKO teams up with Paolo Gnutti, to break new ground in the world of premium, luxury denim. Combining ISKO’s advanced denim technologies with PG’s creative vision, the result is a special ISKO™ Luxury collection by PG, characterized by a unique high-end appeal.

The collection embodies ISKO’s most revolutionary technological innovations combined with the long-standing expertise of Paolo Gnutti, who explored aesthetics highly profiled to the unique needs of the luxury segment through 7 main moods:

1. Denim addicted, celebrating total denim looks, offering classic silhouettes mixed up with revised volumes and details;
2. Y2k, bringing back the 2000s typical style featuring exposed skin, low waist pants, micro tops, mini skirts, shrunken garments, butterfly decorations and embellishments;
3. Fanaticism, featuring bright, bold colors, intricate prints and logos combined with details that meet ample volume styles;
4. Bounder glam, all about glammed-up leather effects inspired by bikers' unapologetic style and applied to oversize fits, cutouts and lace-ups styles;
5. Moto’roll, where the iconic 60s and 70s biker style is back with a modern twist and a vast range of treatments and fabrics, offering men and women true crowdpleasers;
6. Gingham mania, an in-depth exploration of the gingham trend which finds expression through various dimensions and techniques that cater to any silhouette;
7. Rugged re-made, which celebrates workwear and historical garments creating a style that combines history with technologies, solutions and treatments to recreate that vintage look dear to the heart of lovers of denim heritage

ANDRITZ will be presenting its innovative nonwovens production solutions at CINTE 2022 in Shanghai, China (September 6–8). ANDRITZ will show its broad product portfolio covering state-of-the-art nonwovens and textile production technologies such as air-through bonding, airlay, needlepunch, spunlace, spunbond, wetlaid/WetlaceTM, converting, textile finishing, recycling, and natural fiber processing.

SUSTAINABILITY IS KEY
ANDRITZ supports nonwovens producers in the move to sustainability with the aim of reducing or eliminating plastic components while maintaining the high quality of the desired product properties. This applies to all types of sustainable wipes, such as flushable, biodegradable, bio-sourced, carded pulp or standard carded wipes. The latest development in this field is the ANDRITZ neXline wetlace CP line, which integrates the carded-pulp (CP) process. This is a fully engineered production line combining the benefits of drylaid and wetlaid technologies to produce a new generation of biodegradable wipes.

NEXLINE WETLAID AXCESS TARGETS SMALLER AND MEDIUM PRODUCTION VOLUMES
The neXline wetlaid aXcess targets smaller and medium production volumes and has been devised for new and existing lines. The compact line provides an entrance to the growing wetlaid market, with a variety of final applications and options.

ANDRITZ AXCESS DEVELOPED FOR MEDIUM CAPACITIES IN WUXI, CHINA
The aXcess range was specially developed at ANDRITZ (China) Ltd. Wuxi Branch to handle medium capacities. The facility in Wuxi has an experienced platform for production and service specially geared to serve the Asian nonwovens industry. It designs and manufactures cutting-edge lines to complement the ANDRITZ aXcess product range, which includes complete lines and individual machines for air-through bonding, needlepunch and spunlace processes. With the aXcess range, ANDRITZ has developed a hybrid line combining European and Chinese machines, which is the ideal combination to obtain the best added value from each component in the line and be very flexible to accommodate different business cases.

The service organization was set up to provide prompt delivery and excellent customer support, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. A team of technicians and process experts can be deployed quickly to customer sites requiring full-range assistance. The ANDRITZ facilities include a roll service center with state of-the-art grinding equipment and a test stand for various types of rolls.

In addition, our aXcess range manufactured in Europe also offers technologies for spunlaid and wetlaid processes. Increasing production speeds and widths, compact and reliable design, and affordable investment costs are what customers look for in a competitive market environment. To meet these requirements ideally, we recently enhanced our nonwoven calender and dryer ranges.

Iluna Group is exhibiting at the upcoming Première Vision, from July 5-7, with the aim of promoting a new fashion that combines aesthetic research and environmental responsibility.
 
The key word of this new collection is “experimentation”: the search for new solutions that can offer consumers style, sustainability and well-being translates into innovative blends, natural dyes and smart prints.

This season, the Iluna team is introducing for the first time GOTS-certified organic cotton inside its gallons and allovers, to add a natural touch to its Green Label line. Among the smart ingredients chosen by Iluna Group are Renycle® and Q-Nova, both GRS-certified pre-consumer recycled polyamide yarns, in addition to premium recycled stretch ROICA™ EF by Asahi Kasei. The result is a comfortable and ultralight product that remains true to a high value of creativity and responsibility.

In terms of aesthetic innovation, explorations continue with a yarn blend of FSC-certified viscose and polyamide, resulting in striking new Textronic designs. The 3D effect embossed designs create a cloud effect that, combined with Lurex, shows unexpected glows.

Moreover, the continuous path through the new dimension of responsibility continues in several directions: developments in GRS (Global Recycled Standard) certified recycled yarns aimed at unprecedented effects in both look, performance and hands; experiments with 16 different natural dyestuffs; and continued investment in technologies that can ensure significant savings in water and energy consumption, including GREENDROP, the new GOTS-certified digital pigment printing system.

On the occasion of the Techtextil fair in Frankfurt, the Chairman of VDMA’s Walter Reiners-Stiftung Foundation, Peter D. Dornier, has awarded prizes to seven successful young engineers. For the first time, the Foundation awarded two Sustainability Awards. They are awarded to academic works in which, for example, solutions for resource-saving products and technologies are developed.

A Sustainability Prize in the category Project Work, endowed with 3.000 euros was awarded to Simon Hoebel, TU Dresden, for his thesis on recycled thermoplastic fibres for composite components.
Marina Michel, TU Dresden, received a Sustainability Award in the category Master, worth 3.500 euros. The topic of her master thesis was the functionalisation of yarns for the filtration of micro- and nanoplastics from water.

A Promotion Prize in the category Project Work, endowed with 4.000 euros, was awarded to a student group from RWTH Aachen. The teamwork of Luis Gleissner, Leopold Habersbrunner, Frederic Olbrich and Frederik Schicks was the construction of a test rig for tests on oil-adsorbing textiles.

Felix Zerbes, RWTH Aachen, was awarded a Promotion Prize of 3.500 euros in the category Master. He developed a technical solution for air jet weaving to improve the quality of woven fabric.

• 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.