From the Sector

• Lenzing becomes partner company of CISUTAC
• New project CISUTAC, co-funded by the EU, shall remove barriers to circularity in the textile industry
• Lenzing will make a contribution in cellulose recycling

The Lenzing Group, a leading provider of specialty fibers for the textile and nonwoven industries, is reinforcing its commitment to circularity by becoming a partner in the CISUTAC (Circular and Sustainable Textile and Clothing) project that is co-funded by the EU. The new consortium was established to support the transition to a circular and sustainable textile sector and, as well as Lenzing, the 27 consortium members include the industry association Euratex, textile company Inditex, PVH, Decathlon and non-governmental organization Oxfam. For its part, Lenzing is focusing on the development of recycling processes for cellulose.
 
CISUTAC aims to remove current bottlenecks in order to enhance textile circularity in Europe. Its goal is to minimize the sector’s total environmental impact by developing sustainable, novel and inclusive large-scale European value chains.

Tonello will be unveiling the release of their new, more efficient and more responsible Laundry (R)Evolution, including three tools, at Kingpins Show in Amsterdam, from October 19-20.

Configurator
The new Configurator allows clients to choose the technologies, software, and accessories for their next laundry, combining diverse solutions and thus obtaining a real projection of energy and resource consumption, as well as savings and sustainability benefits.

B.O.P. (Be On Point)
The seamless integration with THE Laser, B.O.P. is based on the most recent developments in Computer Vision It makes positioning laser designs on garments automatic and rapid It allows a choice of different production modes and detects up to 8 garments at the same time.

Metro
Metro is a software that automatically and transparently measures the actual consumption of a laundry, summarizing these figures in each garment’s “environmental passport”.

At the show, Tonello will also demonstrate their technologies by washing the MSP Collection, in collaboration with PVH Europe, Kingpins, and designed by Piero Turk.

DiloGroup will be attenting India ITME 2022 (December 8 – 13, 2022), an exhibition for the textile industry, which offers a central forum for dialogue within the textile production sector, including textile machine building, fibre production, ancillaries and accessories. For DiloGroup this event is a good oppportunity to inform customers and interested parties about new developments aimed at improving production technologies with a focus on needlefelts.

Focal points of the development work are:

1. Intense Needling:
   The development efforts of DiloGroup aim at producing nonwovens by “intense needling” instead of water entangling, even for light nonwovens made of fine fibres for the medical and hygiene sector with an area weight of 30 – 100 g/m². This would result in a reduction of the environmentally relevant production costs; per annum to about 1/3 to 1/5 of current.
2. “Fibre Pulp Recycling”
   Fibrous material in nonwovens and particularly used clothes can be successfully recycled, if staple length can be conserved in the tearing process. In the classical tearing process, staple lengths are dramatically reduced and therefore these fibres can only be used as base material for inferior uses in thermal or acoustic insulation or in protective textiles, transportation or protective covers etc.
   When recycling textile waste in the context of the collection of used clothes, the so called “filament-saving” tearing using special tearing machines and methods must be used to produce fibres with longer staple lengths which can be fed to a nonwoven installation. Hence product characteristics can be better specified and controlled.
3. Additive nonwoven production
   The additive production method of the “3D-Lofter” is especially suited for automotive parts with differently distributed masses. It is also suited for uses in the sector of apparel and shoe production.
4. “IsoFeed”-card feeding
   In the field of card feeding, the “IsoFeed” method offers great potential for a more homogeneous card feeding at the same time reducing the variation in cross-machine fibre mass distribution and thus the fibre consumption while conserving the end product quality.

Perstorp has been acquired by PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG), Malaysia´s leading integrated chemicals provider and part of PETRONAS Group, on 11 October 2022.

In May this year, PCG signed a Securities Purchase Agreement with Financière Forêt S.à.r.l, a company under PAI Partners, a European private equity firm, to acquire the entire equity interest in Perstorp, a leading sustainability-driven global specialty chemicals company based in Sweden. With the completion of the acquisition, Perstorp is now PCG’s wholly-owned subsidiary.

PCG will strive to ensure the timely completion of Perstorp’s growth projects in a safe and cost-effective manner. Perstorp has several projects lined up in the near future, including the launch of Project Air which aims to reduce carbon emissions through the production of sustainable methanol. Recently, The European Union Innovation Fund selected Project Air, as one of the 17 large-scale green tech projects, which together will be granted more than EUR 1.8 billion. Project Air is a gamechanger for the chemical industry, moving from fossil raw materials to recycled and bio-based feedstock, thereby enabling sustainable chemical products to a large variety of industries and end products. At full capacity, it will reduce global CO2 emissions with close to 500,000 metric tons per year from today’s levels, corresponding to one percent of current emissions in Sweden.

BTMA member Sellers Textile Engineers is marking its 110th anniversary this year with the introduction of a new concept in carpet shearing, as the essential final step in ensuring tuft uniformity and ‘just new’ freshness in finished carpet rolls.

The company has for many years offered two options in the construction of its shearing cylinders – the first, namely the ‘strap-on’, incorporates spiral blades bolted to the cylinder body and the second, known as the ‘caulked-in’, includes spirals which are fixed very securely in a machined groove within the machine.

The new Sellers’ Hybrid Shearing Cylinder combines the benefits of both, resulting in an improved cut and finer finish, in addition to longer repeatable finishing and increased rigidity.

“The Hybrid Shearing Cylinder has all the advantages of the ‘strap-on’ spiral blade to provide a sharper and cleaner cut, along with enhanced rigidity which significantly lengthens the intervals between the necessary regrinding of the blade,” explains Sellers Director Neil Miller. “We currently have six Hybrid Shearing Cylinders operating in the field and the earliest, which has been installed in both No1 Head position, where the majority of the shearing operation and heaviest cut is performed, and also in No3 Head, where the sharper cutting angle has resulted in a much improved surface quality.”

Sellers shearing machines have led the field in carpet finishing for many decades, enabling the leading manufacturers to stay competitive by enabling the highest quality of finish to be achieved economically and efficiently.

The latest advanced features of these machines include a load cell tension control drive system, an automated touchscreen for easy operator control and fault diagnosis, an enhanced cleaning system including cylinder and blade separation and fully controllable pivoting beds. Further options include thickness monitoring, seam detection and metal detection systems.

“The Hybrid Shearing Cylinder will become standard on our latest machines and also be made available for retrofitting, to provide significant benefits to our existing users,” says Miller. “All of our equipment is designed, manufactured, assembled and tested at our plant in the UK, and as one of the few remaining European engineering companies to make all of our components in-house – with now over a century of accumulated know-how – flexibility in design allows our finishing solutions to be targeted to specific customers and their product requirements. Aligned to this is a lead in process control systems which ensure the accurate control, reliability and repeatability of the processing parameters on all of our machines.”

Sellers remains committed to providing complete finishing solutions for all carpet, tile and artificial grass products. Its range includes machines for tufted secondary backing, both conventional, powder and extrusion lamination, Wilton and Axminster products, artificial grass and foam lines, coating lines for bitumen, PVC, PU and other polymers, as well as shearing for all carpet products.

Ongoing developments on the company’s coating and drying lines have resulted in improved guiding and product tension control as well as dryer efficiency, reducing heat loss and optimising energy use. These include a re-design of the fan pressure boxes and impingement nozzles to increase airflow efficiency, modulating gas burners and introducing easy clean, accessible filters.

In addition, the proven dual zone system has been enhanced, giving a temperature differential of up to 80°C between top and bottom zones. Dryers can be heated by either gas or steam and operation and access have been simplified with controls via touchscreen and PLC.

An extensive range of ancillary equipment is available to provide maximum flexibility to cover product requirements, for both new processing lines and as upgrades to existing equipment.

“Carpet manufacturing is now based on well-established, tried and trusted processes and it’s rare for new innovations to be introduced into this sector,” says Jason Kent, CEO of the British Textile Machinery Association. “The new Sellers Hybrid Shearing Cylinder can provide a competitive edge for manufacturers which is currently being proven in the field. It’s one of a number of new innovations the company is planning to showcase at next year’s ITMA exhibition in Milan.”

AkzoNobel provides a Q3 update as high macro-economic uncertainty - especially in Europe and China - led to near historical low consumer confidence. In anticipation, customers and channel partners in the paints and coatings industry are proactively destocking in these regions.
 
The Q3 adjusted operating income is now expected to be in the range of €195 million to €215 million (2021: €241 million), excluding a retroactive impact from hyperinflation accounting regarding Türkiye.
 
Current demand trends are expected to continue in Q4, whilst benefits will come from the company’s own initiatives to reduce costs, improve working capital and ongoing pricing initiatives. While Q3 will see the highest raw material cost impact since the inflation cycle started early 2021, pricing will continue to offset raw material and freight inflation. Overall raw material supply is normalizing and raw material prices are starting to soften broadly.
 
Financial results for Q3 of 2022 will be announced on October 20.

HeiQ will showcase some of its latest technologies at the Taipei Innovative Textile Application Show – TITAS 2022, from the 12th to the 14th of October, at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. A newly launched, upgraded formula - HeiQ Barrier Eco Dry New, is added to the company’s fluorocarbon-free water repellent technology range and will be one of the highlights.

As urbanization and modern lifestyles cause an estimated 40% of the global population to be afflicted by allergies, HeiQ recently launched HeiQ Allergen Tech, a finish based on bio-based synbiotic technology to combat inanimate allergens on textiles. It will also be introduced at TITAS.

HeiQ innovations driving change
The global call for sustainability has put the textile industry, as the second-highest generator of CO₂ emissions, under the spotlight. Most of the marine pollution is caused by non-degradable micro-and nanoparticle emissions from washing clothes, and tons of textile items pile up in landfills. Clothing a potential 8Bn global population by 2023 doesn’t have to be a problem, and HeiQ is driving change in the textile industry so that every player can be part of the solution. In response to the ongoing energy crisis, HeiQ will emphasize the use of HeiQ Clean Tech, a polyester dyeing auxiliary system that helps mills save energy by 30-35%, thereby reducing the carbon footprint of the finished product.

• Stéphane Ferreira joined Carbios as Director of Operations and Executive Committee Member, on October 10, 2022.
• Frédéric Alarcon appointed Licensing Manager
• Arnaud Tillon appointed Group Marketing Director
• New areas of expertise complete the seniority of Carbios’ leadership team, following June appointments of Mathieu Berthoud as Sourcing and Public Affairs Director, Lionel Arras as Industrial Director, and Pascal Bricout as Strategy and Finance Director.
• Departure of Martin Stephan, Deputy CEO

Carbios strengthens its organization with the appointment of Stéphane Ferreira as Director of Operations. He will be in charge of the business’ global development and will steer the relationship with Carbios’ industrial and commercial partners.

Stéphane Ferreira's team will be reinforced by two new members, including:

• Frédéric Alarcon, Licensing Manager, who joined Carbios on September 5. His role is to build and deploy the process licensing model that is at the heart of Carbios’ business model;
• Arnaud Tillon, Group Marketing Director, who joined the firm on September 12. He will support the company’s development by defining and deploying the marketing strategy. He is also in charge of reinforcing the customer culture within the organization.

Martin Stephan will leave his position as Deputy CEO on October 15, 2022, after nearly six years at Carbios.

Emmanuel Ladent, Carbios’ Chief Executive Officer: "The appointment of Stéphane Ferreira as Director of Operations is excellent news for Carbios. His extensive experience in global markets will help Carbios reach a new level, by deploying the company’s proprietary technologies on a large scale. I am also very pleased with the recent arrivals of Frédéric Alarcon and Arnaud Tillon, whose respective expertise in licenses and mass-market offers will be invaluable. Lastly, on behalf of all Carbios’ teams, I want to salute and thank Martin Stephan for his continued commitment to the company’s development. His experience, expertise and skills have been key to developing partnerships which have enabled Carbios to be so close to industrial deployment and recognized as the future worldwide leader of plastics and fibers in the circular economy."

Carbios published its operating and financial results for the first half of 2022. The financial statements as of June 30, 2022 were approved by Carbios' Board of Directors.

• Project to build the world's first PET biorecycling plant, in partnership with Indorama Ventures, the world's largest manufacturer of recycled PET: Establishment in France with strong backing from national government and the Grand-Est Region
• On track to bring recycled PET from Carbios' proprietary innovation process to market by 2025
• Fully operational industrial demonstration plant and step-by-step technological validation of the scale-up of the industrial solution designed and developed by Carbios
• Launch of a textile consortium in partnership with On, Patagonia, PUMA and Salomon
• Scientific article in the prestigious Biophysical Journal
• Carbios strengthens its Governance and Management team
• Carbios enhance its financial structure, banking the €30 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB)
• Carbios Group's net cash position: €121 million at June 30, 2022

See the full report here.

Within the scope of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) initiative “The Sustainability Pledge”, to improve transparency and traceability for sustainable garment and footwear supply chains, the Swiss company Haelixa traces Egyptian cotton from the source up to premium shirts.

The UNECE and United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) has been developing over the period 2019-2022 policy recommendations, implementation guidelines, a call to action, and a traceability toolbox including blockchain and DNA tracing solutions, which has been implemented in few different textile supply chains. Haelixa is part of the group of experts that develops such policy recommendations and conducts projects with key industry players to set traceability benchmarks and later develop them into standards.

Fashion brands are often responsible for complex global value chains and traceability is the needed tool to enable trust, transparency and credible sustainability. The magnitude of the supply chain traceability challenge can be overwhelming for brands, but the UNECE initiative framework facilitates the alignment with suppliers, provides the necessary guidance and the needed tools, with Haelixa as physical traceability provider.

To make the premium shirts traceable, Haelixa has developed a DNA marker to label the raw material, premium Egyptian cotton. The DNA marker has been applied as fine spray to GIZA 96 lint cotton in Borg Al Arab, Egypt and used to produce the finest fabric by Swiss manufacturer Weba. Once applied to the fibers, Haelixa’s DNA markers stay safely embedded into the material and withstand the industrial processing, ensuring traceability from the source until the finished garment. Samples of lint cotton, yarn, and fabric at different steps were verified with a test based on PCR, and the correct DNA marker was detected, thereby enabling the identification of the premium product, of its origin and the specific supply chain. The forensic data obtained were recorded on a blockchain system provided by UNECE. The marked fabric was used to make Hugo Boss cotton dress shirts. As one of the leading premium fashion brands and partner to the UNECE project, Hugo Boss is responsible for a complex global value chain and strives for high sustainability standards and is looking at traceability options.

“In cases like this one, where the material is of the highest quality and the product is shipped from one facility to another for premium processing, adding physical traceability is critical to ensure that the origin, quality and processing claims can be backed up" says Gediminas Mikutis, CTO and co-founder at Haelixa.

Maria Teresa Pisani, Economic Affairs Officer and Project Lead at UNECE, emphasized: “Traceability and transparency are crucial elements to protect environmental, social, and human rights along global value chains. At UNECE, we aim to enhance traceability approaches by exploring new and innovative solutions that help identify and address negative impacts in the fashion industry.”