From the Sector

The Lenzing Group scored a total of 30.5 points (4 points more compared to last year) and received for the first time a leading dark green shirt, the highest Hot Button ranking category. Lenzing once again convinced the non-profit organization Canopy with its innovative vision with regard to circular economy and REFIBRA™ technology, its high level of transparency in wood and pulp sourcing, as well as its active contribution towards protecting forests and preserving biodiversity.

In this widely recognized ranking, Canopy grades the world’s 31 largest producers of wood-based fibers with respect to their sustainable wood and pulp sourcing, their efforts with regard to using alternative non-wood feedstock and their achievements for lasting conservation in critical forests round the globe.

Leading in sustainable sourcing with a decade-long clean record
Wood and pulp are the most important raw materials for Lenzing’s sustainable production of cellulosic fibers. The Lenzing Group is particularly proud of its decade-long clean record of sustainable wood sourcing, evidenced by its long-standing credible commitment to wood certification, which Lenzing pioneered already in the 1990s. Lenzing’s commercial wood sources are  100 percent either certified by FSC® or PEFC™, or controlled in line with FSC® standards.

Social impact and afforestation project in Albania
At the backdrop of Lenzing’s long history of clean sourcing, the company is even more aware that the global forests are seriously threatened by illegal logging and deforestation but also by the consequences of climate change. This is why Lenzing – in addition to supporting a number of Canopy’s conservation projects – has set up a social impact and afforestation project in Albania (Southern Europe).*

Special focus on sustainable plantations in Brazil
For its latest investment in a pulp mill in Brazil, Lenzing actively collaborates with Canopy to ensure that the wood sourcing is in line with sustainable practices. The plant will be among the highest productive and energy-efficient facilities in the world and will feed the 40 percent excess bioelectricity generated on site as “green energy” into the public grid.*

REFIBRA™ technology: Commercially available since 2017
As a long-standing player in the industry, Lenzing has undertaken extensive research into many different alternative non-wood cellulose sources such as annual plants, like hemp, straw, and bamboo. Until now, textile waste has turned out to be the most promising alternative feedstock for scaled commercial use.
Lenzing’s lyocell fiber produced with the breakthrough REFIBRA™ technology (Eco Cycle technology for nonwoven applications) uses textile waste as part of the feedstock and is an important step towards a circular economy.*

50 percent recycled content by 2024
It is Lenzing’s vision to make textile waste recycling a common standard process like paper recycling and to offer fibers produced with REFIBRA™ technology with up to 50 percent recycled content from post-consumer waste by 2024.

*Please read attached document for more information

Aachen - Warden Schijve, former Chief Scientist Composites at SABIC, recently joined the AZL engineering team in October. As Design Leader, he is further expanding the product and application development division of the service provider for business development and technology development in lightweight.

AZL Aachen GmbH supports companies along the entire value chain in implementing competitive lightweight technologies. "We develop component and production concepts for companies, including the analysis of costs and production-relevant KPIs. With our broad range of material and production technologies, we provide a comprehensive solution for the development and evaluation of products and identify the most suitable paths to implementation. Warden Schijve will use his many years of experience to support our partners in the efficient development, evaluation and implementation of component and production solutions through to market readiness," says Dr. Kai Fischer, Managing Partner of AZL Aachen GmbH.

From his 35 years in the composites industry with Fokker, DSM and SABIC, Warden Schijve brings a broad and deep expertise in structural design, plastics and composites, as well as processing technology.
Warden Schijve: “In my career I’ve always seen that it pays off to evaluate various different design concepts, which may use different materials or material combinations, to finally come to the most cost-competitive lightweight applications. Taking into account different manufacturing technologies right from the beginning can save a lot in later stages of component development. And this is what fascinates me about AZL and its eco-system: the available knowledge on a wide variation of process and production technologies, including cutting edge equipment, at both the AZL Tech Center, and the various institutes present in the total RWTH Aachen Campus.”

Dr. Michael Emonts, Managing Partner of AZL Aachen GmbH: "We are delighted that Warden Schijve, as a well-known face from the AZL community, will enrich us in developing lightweight applications, production systems and processes, identifying competitive technology optimizations through the analysis of markets and applications, and supporting our customers in the industrial implementation of the developed technologies."

Warden Schijve will also lead the project for a concept study for future battery casings based on composite-based multi-material systems. The AZL started the project in October together with 30 participating companies from the entire value chain to get an overview of existing component solutions, evaluate the advantages of a multi-material approach and develop a multi-material component design including a production concept for battery casings.

The textile industry, one of the major industrial sectors worldwide, is going through a significant revolution, with changes taking place in various sections of textile processing. Biotechnology and biomimicry, for example, are continuously playing an important role in redefining the influence of the textile industry on society, and so is progress made in auxiliary chemistry, with advances investigated and then applied in almost every section of textile processing.  The outcome is amazingly promising.

Modern, real science is inextricably intertwined with environmental consciousness and they are definitely not mutually exclusive.

At RUDOLF GROUP modern, real science means pushing R&D so to constantly explore new technology and innovations that help transform the textile and fashion industries. We work to reduce the overall dependency on traditional and virgin resources.  Getting textile manufacturers as well as brand and retailers on board is key to achieve real change. By 2030 we aim for a significant fraction of our products to be either sourced through paths alternative to the traditional petrochemicals, or by upcycling waste and/or byproducts from other industries.

“This is the kind of genuine, tangible, environmental consciousness that truly defines us and that entails that RUDOLF GROUP has a responsibility for the needs of society as a whole.” Said Alberto De Conti, Head of Rudolf Fashion Division “We have a maniacal attention to the environmental impact of our operations and products. We have truly embedded in ourselves the notion that “sustainability” is a key issue and critical to the long-term survival of our company and of society at large. “

The combination of modern, real science and environmental consciousness leads to what RUDOLF GROUP call aspirational chemistry something unique and something that positions us as shining example and guiding light throughout the industry. That is, in fact, BETTER CHEMISTRY.

Two are the innovations rooted in aspirational chemistry that RUDOLF HUB1922 presents. The first one is our WASHLESS technology and the second one is a brand new launch: LASER SMOOTHER, which supports laser technology and helps creating much better denim looks.

WASHLESS

HUB1922 WASHLESS, which can be applied to both denim and non-denim, is the simultaneous application of
-    proprietary fluorine-free DWR (Durable Water Resistance) based on biomimicry to repel dirt
-    anti-microbial, anti-bacteria and anti-viral, non-migrating chemistry to stop body odour.
The combination of the 2 translates into garments that don’t require to be washed as much.

Life cycle assessment studies on clothes, detergents and washing machines show that home laundering is always the most energy‐demanding period during these products' life cycle, even higher than production or transportation phases.

“WASHLESS aims at changing consumer habits in clothing maintenance to a more environmentally friendly direction and represents a change that is the most feasible and efficient. Making washing machines obsolete is impossible, but even though the technologies in clothes cleaning have improved greatly, the washing frequency has not been reduced. We own more and more clothing and wash it more frequently. This increased amount of washing counteracts the technological improvements in home laundry. “ said De Conti.

It is only by understanding the climate change impact associated with home laundering that product innovations and consumer education can be explored. Studies consistently show that a carbon dioxide reduction of 105 MT and electricity savings of 142 thousand GWh can be obtained by reducing home laundering, on average, by 1/3. This is roughly equivalent to removing 12% of the 140 M passenger cars in the US, or taking 23 coal power plants off the grid. In addition, more than 60% of water consumed while laundering (2,000 billion liters) can be reduced through these strategies.

LASER SMOOTHER

Laser denim is the current dominant technology available to the denim industry to create locally abraded areas, vintage effects, whiskers, patterns, patches, and even intentional holes and tears in a garment. Laser technology uses less water, harmful chemicals (such as potassium permanganate) and energy to create a wide variety of denim looks.

However, laser is not always able to produce the desired look, on the desired fabric, in the desired time. Therefore, chemical companies have been developing laser boosters that can be pre-applied to the garments in order to intensify the effect of the laser to mimic heavier bleaching applications. Unfortunately, laser boosters can create blurred images where the definition is lower and the overall image less natural.

The brand new RUDOLF HUB1922 LASER SMOOTHER is an all-in-one formulation, very easy to pre-apply to garments before laser burning and that return a very natural image which is very similar to the highly desirable hand scraping. Laser smoother can be applied by traditional exhaust or through nebulization and it dries at normal temperature in normal tumble driers.  Advantages of LASER PRIMER are:

•    Remarkable enhancement of the fabric’s characteristics (heightening of material)
•    Overall effect much more natural and similar to manual scraping (craftsmanship dimension)
•    Reduced required laser power to achieve the wanted effect (conspicuous energy saving)
•    A faster laser burning process (significant time saving, depending on the final effect)
•    Any other chemical spray is not required (environmental friendliness)
•    Reduced cost compared to other solution (financial viability)

With zwissCLEAN® masks, zwissTEX is a pioneer among manufacturers of antiviral and antibacterial oronasal masks. Unlike conventional models they actively and highly effectively eliminate viruses and bacteria thanks to the latest textile technologies. This is made possible by an environmentally friendly finishing that foregoes the use of silver and zinc. "The formula physically interrupts the cell membrane of the viruses and bacteria - so no development of resistance is possible. In this way 99.9 percent of viruses and bacteria are eliminated within a very short time," says Maximilian Schönfließ - Business Development Manager of zwissTEX.

The zwissCLEAN MASK BASIC is particularly suitable when a mask is to be worn over a longer period of time - whether for school, concerts, trade fair visits or air travel. "The special feature of our zwissCLEAN MASK BASIC is that it can be worn for up to 12 hours without any problems due to the breathable material", says Schönfließ. "With it even sleeping is possible. And unlike disposable masks it can be washed up to 10 times at 30 degrees. Disposal by type is also possible".

The zwissCLEAN MASK COMFORT is recommended for daily protection at shopping, on public transport, at business appointments or similar events. It consists of a three-layer structure and combines efficient antiviral protection with long-term wearing comfort. The outer material and the integrated fleece promote protection against viruses and bacteria. The lower material made of organic cotton guarantees a lasting pleasant feeling on the skin. The mask can be washed up to 30 times, thus replacing up to 210 disposable masks and saving resources sustainably.

Technical textiles fulfil many functions: they hold, they lift, they fixate, they stretch – and they tension. In this function narrow textiles fulfil an important task in product development. And they offer significant advantages over metal or plastic tensioning devices such as springs, clamps or cable ties.

Properties
Textiles are light: a property that plays a central role in modern mobility. Textiles are flexible: from extremely high to extremely low elasticity: the force-elongation behaviour of elasticated narrow textiles can be precisely defined. Depending on the tensioning task to be performed. Textiles tension in tight packaging spaces: elastics can also be used where space is too tight for springs and clasps. Textiles are energy efficient: lightweight, with high tensioning force. Textiles are easy to handle: replace a connector spontaneously and without tools, quickly change the length or roll up and store a supply. And textiles are sustainable: natural fibres and rubber are natural and ecologically degradable raw materials; synthetic fibres can be completely produced from recycled materials.

Applications
Development teams in numerous industries leverage these properties for their products. For example, for flexible machine parts in mechanical engineering, for switch contacts in electrical engineering, for oscillation-capable locking systems in the construction industry, for noise- and vibration-free seating systems in the automotive sector or for grip rings in the toys industry.

Tasks
Particularly en vogue today, when we are spending more time than usual in our own homes: applications for narrow textiles in the furniture industry. They go far beyond the area of legacy home textiles: as tensioning elements in armchairs, sofas and chairs, as hinge solutions in cupboards, as fixation elements in extendable or folding tables. Narrow textiles are used for gripping tasks almost everywhere in the living room.

"JUMBO-Textil specialises in precisely implementing the individual requirements for defined force-elongation values of elasticated narrow textiles: we adapt the technical properties of our products precisely to the specific task and the respective raw materials," explains Werner Thiex, Sales Director Automotive. "Precise technical specification plus sustainable raw materials – this is a crucial combination in the 21st century".

• Efficient heat supply of the future reduces environmentally harmful CO₂

The heating sector offers a variety of options for the energy turnaround. One of them is district heating. This is an efficient energy source that makes an important contribution to sustainability and climate protection, especially when used within heat and energy-intensive companies. The CHT Group for speciality chemicals has opted to utilise the district heating supplied by the Tübingen public utilities (swt) at its headquarters in Tübingen - and thus reduce CO2 and the use of fossil fuels. This also resulted in the district heating network of the municipal utilities being extended by an additional half kilometre.

Until recently, heating, hot water and various process steam applications within the CHT site in Bismarckstrasse, Tubingen were fed from a central steam generation plant fired by heating oil. Now three of four company buildings are connected to the swt district heating network and the process steam applications have been decentralised. The fourth building has already been equipped with a modern CHP system for many years. In the future, this building will be prepared for district heating. The conversion to district heating supply will be made as soon as the CHP plant has reached the end of its operating life. In order to connect the CHT headquarters to the district heating, the municipal utilities have extended their supply network by around 570 metres during a four-month construction period. The heat now flows through newly installed transfer stations where it is measured, regulated, transferred and finally fed into the buildings' heating circuits.

Dr. Bernhard Hettich, Chief Technical Officer of CHT Germany GmbH: "As a company CHT focuses on worldwide sustainability. This not only includes products but also the sustainable use of resources at the individual locations. At our headquarters in Tübingen, our efforts are directed towards reducing energy consumption and optimising it with regard to renewable energies. With this investment we will continue to reduce CO2 emissions and the consumption of fossil fuels for the energy we consume. As a Tübingen company, we are therefore pleased to be connected to the local district heating network and to be able to use its advantages for the benefit of our sustainability strategy".

High heat demand offers great savings potential
CHT's heat requirements are high as the three buildings already connected require around 1.3 million kilowatt hours of heat per year. With the fourth building included, the heat requirement is even 1.6 million kilowatt hours. With the conversion to district heating CHT saves about 152 tons of CO2 per year. An investment in the district heating connection is therefore an investment in the future, both from an ecological and economic point of view. CHT has invested 180,000 Euro in the district heating connection.

Please read the attached document for more information

• World Cotton Day on 7 October Highlights the Importance of Cotton for Development Policy

Bremen - Stemming from a 2019 initiative of the African Cotton-4 countries Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali, World Cotton Day will take place this year on 7 October. The event is organised by the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation (WTO) and is supported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the International Cotton Secretariat (ICAC). The Bremen Cotton Exchange is also involved.

“Cotton is often underestimated because it is so natural. Behind it are millions of people, for example many farmers, field workers, employees in ginning factories, logistics providers and traders. We want to honour their achievements,” said the President of the Bremen Cotton Exchange, Stephanie Silber.

According to the WTO, the aim of World Cotton Day is to highlight the global economic importance of cotton and to raise awareness of the raw material by recognising the work of everyone involved in its cultivation, processing and trade. At the same time, within the framework of international cooperation, it is hoped that supporters and investors can be found to aid with technological and economic progress within the cotton value chain.

This time, the entire world cotton community will be involved in World Cotton Day on Wednesday, 7 October 2020. A wide variety of campaigns and events are taking place everywhere to draw attention to the importance of cotton and its possible uses.

Cotton is one of the most relevant agricultural raw materials in the world. Around 26 million tonnes of it are harvested annually. Approximately 150 million people in almost 80 countries around the world live from the cultivation of the natural fibre. A large number of these live in developing countries, where cotton cultivation is of particular importance as a cash crop.

Cotton is known as an agricultural product that is turned into a textile. The raw material is indispensable in fashion and clothing – and has been for thousands of years. But the use of cotton now goes far beyond textiles. For example, cosmetic products such as hand creams and hair shampoo are made from the oil of cotton seeds. The raw material is also used in the manufacture of banknotes, furniture and technical textiles, as well as in medical technology.

Against the background of the current discussion on sustainability and sustainable consumption, the role of natural fibres is becoming even more important. Cotton is biodegradable and a renewable resource. It can be grown again and again in agriculture through cultivation in crop rotation. This secures incomes and enables efficient value creation within the global production and processing chain.

The Bremen Cotton Exchange will actively support World Cotton Day with cross-media coverage. In addition, in time for World Cotton Day, three thematically different, emotionally appealing short films about cotton will be launched. They are aimed at consumers as customers of the textile and clothing trade and provide information about the benefits and properties of cotton and answer questions about its sustainability. In keeping with the times, they will be published via virtual media.

• The CHT Group is constantly expanding its sustainable product range for a circular economy according to the Cradle to Cradle principles

Progress in itself does not necessarily have to be sustainable but in the CHT Group it certainly does. For this reason the company has defined progress more precisely. The developers and chemists from Tübingen show true inventive talent with sustainable innovations.

According to the CHT Group's self-perception, sustainable innovation always includes a responsibility component for the future. With decades of experience along the textile value chain, the globally active CHT Group offers an incomparably wide range of services focusing on sustainable, resource-saving and forward-looking speciality chemicals and the efficient shaping of textile processes.

The circular economy takes over a decisive role: In the CHT Group we are convinced that recyclable textile products are the right means to protect resources and reduce the environmental impact. Therefore, our team works closely with textile manufacturers and brands to achieve the common goal of avoiding waste and harmful substances along the textile production process and thus producing more ecological textiles.

The Cradle to Cradle approach provides a trend-setting concept in the textile world that perfectly fits the company's sustainable strategy: Right from the start products shall be created which are suited for the biological (compostable) or technical (recyclable) circulation.

The CHT Group focuses on the development of dyes, pigments and auxiliaries for textile finishing which can be decomposed without leaving any residues and easily returned to the natural circulation.

For textiles which are to be developed and produced strictly according to the Cradle to Cradle principle, CHT offers a comprehensive, constantly growing, compostable range for textile finishing. With 57 textile auxiliaries and 32 dyes/pigments CHT has succeeded in achieving the highest rating, the Platinum Material Health Certificate of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.

These products help textile manufacturers to achieve the Platinum rating in Material Health, one of five categories of the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ product standard on finished textiles. This contributes to giving textiles a positive ecological footprint.

Textiles can be given the decisive distinguishing feature through the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ product standard. Cradle to Cradle Certified™ is the world's leading science-based standard for safe, recyclable and sustainable materials and products. CHT offers the possibility of designing tomorrow's sustainable textiles already today and is therefore part of the Circular Economy.

Cradle to Cradle Certified™ is a registered trademark of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.

Mountains of waste, plastic-infested oceans, negative CO2 footprints – the need for more sustainable ways of living has never been more urgent. Consequently, it is logical that recycling solutions are becoming increasingly important within the textile industry. This was also tapped into at the first virtual Global Fiber Congress in Dornbirn with a session that focused specifically on the topic. In front of around 400 participants, Markus Reichwein, Head of Product Management at Oerlikon Barmag, also spoke about solutions currently on the market.

As one of only manufactureres, the Oerlikon Group’s Manmade Fibers segment offers the entire mechanical recycling chain –from preparing the recycled materials, producing the melt all the way through to the textured package. Here, the company utilizes the VacuFil solution supplied by its subsidiary Barmag Brückner Engineering (BBE) –which, in addition to mastering bottle-to-bottle and bottle-to-textile processes, is also able to process textile waste into chips. This permits the running of textile production operations very much in line with the zero-waste philosophy.

VacuFil ensures a stable process in the case of recycled quality yarns
The reliable removal of contaminants is vital for a stable and efficient spinning process and outstanding yarn quality. At the same time, stable operating conditions with minimal fluctuations are essential. The greatest challenge here is the differing qualities of the bottle flakes fed into the system, as the extrusion process is barely able to balance these fluctuations. Here, the VacuFil concept counters with blending silos, which reduce the differences in the viscosity of the polymers considerably and guarantee high yarn and fabric quality.

The VacuFil concept is installed upstream to an Oerlikon Barmag POY system, which transforms the recycled melt into filament yarn of the accustomed high quality. As texturing solutions, Oerlikon Barmag offers its state-of-the-art automatic eAFK-series systems, including the latest generation of the eAFK Evo, which was unveiled at the ITMA Barcelona last year. Yarn manufacturers wishing to continue texturing manually can use the eFK series.

With the VarioFil R+, producers of smaller batches now also have a compact system with an integrated recycled materials preparation unit at their disposal. The system offers a special extrusion system for bottle flake materials, the very latest metering and mixing technology for spin-dying and expanded 2-stage melt filtration. The four spinning positions are each equipped with an Oerlikon Barmag 10-end WINGS POY winder.

While mechanical recycling has already been extensively developed, chemical recycling for mixed fabrics is still presenting the textile industry with huge challenges. The Oerlikon Group’s Manmade Fibers segment is currently working on solutions and concepts for transforming these fabrics into new textiles.

Belgian textile innovator Devan Chemicals was lauded by Frost & Sullivan for its antimicrobial technology with proven quaternized silane chemistry, known under its trade name as BI-OME®.

RONSE, BELGIUM – The non-leaching attributes of the technology coupled with its ability to reduce microbial mutation make it a potential candidate for textiles where durability and safe human contact are highly valued.

Based on its recent analysis of the European antimicrobial technology for the textile market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes the Belgium-headquartered Devan Chemicals NV (Devan) with the 2020 European Technology Innovation Leadership Award. Devan’s highly relevant antimicrobial technology addresses issues concerning the contamination of PPE and textiles, including the spread of drug-resistant bacteria, viral transmissions, and hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). Its quat-silane technology, due to its non-migrating behaviour, physically punctures the microorganism cell to destroy it without interfering with cell DNA. Notably, it eliminates the adverse effects of leaching antimicrobials while providing high efficiency in the range of 99.9 percent to 99.99 percent, even after multiple washes.

"By providing non-migrating antimicrobial technology for the textile industry, Devan plugs the safety and performance gaps inherent in current inorganic and organic antimicrobial agents. Its antimicrobial technology, unlike silver- or triclosan-based technology, comprises non-migrating monomers and prepolymers such as organo-functional silane," said Monami Dey, Industry Manager, Frost & Sullivan. "The organo-silane polymers are covalently bonded and polymerized to the textile surface as a coating via padding, exhaust, and spraying techniques. The coating forms a non-leaching reactive surface and destroys the microbes on contact, without releasing harmful components into the environment."

Devan CEO Sven Ghyselinck is very happy with the award: “The best practice award is a nice recognition of the hard work we did in the last 6 months to evaluate the performance against viral activity. It’s great to see our efforts didn’t go unnoticed.”

Earlier this month Devan published new test results confirming the high performance virus-reducing capabilities of its BI-OME fabric coating technology on both unwashed and intensely washed fabrics. The Belgian company has worked closely with a series of international third party laboratories to test different fabric substrates against a wide range of enveloped viruses. Before washing, samples treated with Devan BI-OME score very good to excellent (99% and higher according to ISO 18184) results on virus reduction. Different substrates, like polyester, cotton and polycottons, were exposed to enveloped viruses like SARS-COV-2 (known to cause COVID-19), Feline Corona, Vaccinia (the EU standard for enveloped viruses) and Porcine Respiratory viruses. After 30minutes, BI-OME already reduced 99.96% of the activity of SARS-COV-2.

After washing, a decrease in virus reduction performance of coating technologies is normal and expected. However, BI-OME is confirmed to deliver only a minimal reduction, retaining up to 98.5% virus reduction even when the fabric is washed 25 times.

"Devan is working towards sustainability and green chemistry. For instance, its technology does not contain any harmful solvents such as formaldehyde or polychlorinated phenols and fulfills the regulatory obligations of the EU BPR," noted Dey. "Its commitment to promoting sustainability in textile finishes with a strong focus on GMO-free, kosher, as well as halal certifications, and recyclability has given the company an edge in launching new products at an accelerated pace to match customers’ most pressing concerns and demands."

One of those innovations is BI-OME NTL (natural), a natural, bio-based antimicrobial solution that guarantees an optimal freshness and hygiene for textiles. The active ingredient is the well-known Linseed oil, obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant. The active ingredients in BI-OME NTL are GMO free, Halal, Kosher and recyclable.