From the Sector

Felix Pohlkemper and Tim Röding from Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) of RWTH Aachen University are developing a technology with their start-up CarboScreen GmbH that makes complex carbon fibre production controllable through sensor monitoring. With the help of CarboScreen technology, it should be possible to double the production speed from the current 15 m/min to 30 m/min in the medium term. The doubling of production speed alone could result in an increase in turnover of up to €37.5 million per year and production plant. Felix Pohlkemper and Tim Röding were awarded third place in the AVK Innovation Award 2023 in the Processes and Procedures category for this ground-breaking development. The award ceremony took place during the JEC Roof Forum in Salzburg, Austria.

The production of carbon fibres is highly complex. In the current state of the art, however, the manufacturing process is only monitored manually by semi-skilled workers. However, even minimal fibre damage during production leads to a reduction in the quality of the carbon fibre. In extreme cases, it can also lead to plant fires. To ensure production quality, the production speed is currently limited to a maximum of 15 m/min. In fact, the production speed of the systems could be higher. The sensor-based online monitoring of Carbo-Screen makes it possible to increase the production speed to 30 m/min in the medium term. As a result of the increased production volume per system, the specific production costs of the carbon fibre are reduced, which can result in lower prices.

A reduced sales price would make it possible to use carbon fibres and their composite materials even more widely in traditional markets such as aerospace technology and wind energy, as well as for mass production in the automotive industry.

The CarboScreen online monitoring system is currently being developed for industrial use. It is to be validated at an industrial plant in 2024. CarboScreen GmbH was founded as part of EXIST funding and offers AI-supported sensor systems for carbon fibre production. The sensor technology continuously monitors the fibre throughout the entire production process. Deviations are detected automatically.

The winners of the AVK Innovation Award are honoured annually by the AVK Industrievereinigung Verstärkte Kunststoffe. Companies, institutes and their partners are honoured in three categories: products and applications, processes and procedures, and research and science.

Re:NewCell AB (publ) has created a patented process for 100% textile-to-textile recycling and has invested over SEK 1,300 million to establish an innovative and efficient textile recycling plant. The industrial scale plant in Ortviken currently has a capacity to produce up to 60,000 tonnes on an annual basis.

As communicated on 12 October, the Company has experienced lower than anticipated sales volumes to fiber producers in the third quarter and as communicated on 1 November and 7 November, the Company had low sales volumes in October. In addition, sales volumes in November are now expected to be lower than previously anticipated and in line with October sales volume. Discussions are ongoing with a number of customers to secure orders, but it is uncertain when they will materialise.

Therefore, Re:NewCell hereby announces that its Board of Directors has decided to immediately initiate a strategic review to explore and evaluate various funding alternatives. As part of this process, the Board of Directors will consider all potential alternatives to secure funding and optimise shareholder value. Such alternatives may include additional debt funding, equity injection through the form of a rights issue, equity injection through a directed issue targeted to a financial or strategic investor or other possible strategic transactions.
The Board of Directors has retained ABG Sundal Collier as financial advisor to assist in its review of alternatives. Vinge has been appointed as legal advisor in connection with the review process.

The Board of Directors has not set a timetable for completion of its review, but the process will be initiated immediately. Subject to compliance with its ongoing disclosure obligations pursuant to applicable laws and regulations, Re:NewCell undertakes no obligation to make any further announcements regarding the strategic review until a final decision is made by the Company’s Board of Directors.

HeiQ introduces a 100% biobased and long-lasting cosmetic finishing technology for textiles to the market. The newest addition to the HeiQ portfolio harnesses the power of active probiotics and selected prebiotics to enhance the skin microbiome, turning the human’s largest organ into the best-looking one.

HeiQ Skin Care is a synbiotic textile finish aimed at providing a balanced microbiome for glowing skin, even after repeated use and washing of textiles. Unlike conventional products, HeiQ Skin Care utilizes slow-release prebiotics and probiotics seamlessly integrated into a biobased textile matrix, enriching the skin's microbiome diversity, and offering long-lasting cosmetic benefits.

The synergistic combination of prebiotics and probiotics, known as synbiotics, delivers a soothing cosmetic skin treatment while relaxing, working, or sleeping. Probiotics not only restore and improve the skin's natural balance but also enhance its self-repair capabilities. Synbiotics promote skin renewal, rebalancing, and improved appearance, reducing the signs of aging and establishing a favorable environment for the skin's natural repair mechanisms.

A second skin that takes care of the first
The skin, the largest organ in human body, is home to a diverse community of microorganisms called the skin microbiome. It plays a crucial role in maintaining good skin condition, acting as a protective barrier against harmful agents. However, various factors, such as hormones, diet, smoking, environmental exposures, and excessive UV radiation, can disrupt its balance, leading to skin conditions like rashes, acne, psoriasis, rosacea, skin irritation, redness, eczema, and odor. Maintaining a balanced skin microbiome is essential for preserving skin integrity.

HeiQ Skin Care is suitable for all textile fibers, both natural and synthetic, and can be applied to all textile items that come in direct contact with the skin. This versatility makes it an ideal choice for daily use- at work, during sports, leisure activities, or as bedding items like bed sheets and pillows.

Intensive wear trials conducted during the development stage have proven the consistent release of synbiotics (prebiotics and probiotics) onto the skin, creating conditions to foster a well-balanced microbiome.

Tampon for Men by Finnish hygiene product brand Vuokkoset aims to alleviate the distress transgender men feel related to menstruation. The creative partner behind the idea is TBWA\Helsinki. The product was launched during the international Transgender Awareness Week and sparked a discussion in Scandinavia of the inclusivity of the health and wellness industry.

Research has shown that 93% of transgender men have experienced gender dysphoria related to menstruation. With a tampon designed for men, Vuokkoset sparked a vivid conversation in Finland during the International transgender awareness week (Nov 13 to 19, 2023) with an aim to change perceptions of menstruation and reduce the distress it causes to transgender men.

“Marketing has a huge role in shaping the world around us. As Finland’s leading creative agency and the leading global agency collective, we have an immense responsibility in actively making the world more inclusive. Vuokkoset is a brand that shares this value base and was brave enough to put the campaign together with us in just four short weeks” says Heidi Taina, creative director from TBWA\Helsinki.

Trans men and non-binary individuals may still have menstrual cycles, regardless of hormone therapy choices. This highlights the diversity in experiences related to menstruation among different gender identities.

"When I was young, menstruation felt not only strange but somehow wrong. Our culture does not really acknowledge the diversity of menstruating individuals" says DEI consultant and face of the campaign Dakota Robin, who has been through the gender affirming process himself.

The Tampon for Men will be available as a limited edition in Finland and wider distribution will begin in early 2024. Total sales proceeds are donated to Trasek ry, an organization focused on gender diversity and sexual health. A fully gender-neutral tampon product by Vuokkoset is also being considered.

"Menstrual products - from visuality, advertising to store location - are strongly feminine. It’s time to acknowledge the diversity of menstruating individuals" says Sanna Karhu, CEO of Delipap Oy, the company that manufactures Vuokkoset products.

"This is definitely a step in the right direction. By changing attitudes and broadening perspectives, we can also remove discrimination against gender minorities," concludes Dakota Robin.

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, connected absorbent hygiene and personal care professionals throughout the supply chain at the ninth edition of Hygienix™, the event for absorbent hygiene & personal care markets, held in New Orleans, Louisiana, Nov. 13-16.

Senior-level leaders enjoyed presentations in these key topics affecting the future of absorbent hygiene:

• AHP Trends, Innovation & Market Statistics
• Redefining Absorbent Hygiene: Navigating Consumer Voice, Sustainable Innovations and the Circular Economy
• The Proof Is in the Pudding – Demonstrating What’s Possible in AHP
• Sustainability Inside & Out – Inputs & Packaging
• Words Matter! Shaping Consumer and Industry Thoughts
• Neither Fish nor Fowl: Designing Hybrid AHP Products
• There Be Dragons: Tales of Innovation

The winner of the Hygienix Innovation Award™ was the Sequel Spiral™ Tampon by Sequel. The Sequel Spiral™ Tampon features a proprietary spiral design that is engineered to be more fluid mechanically efficient, meaning it is designed to absorb more evenly and not leak before it’s full. In August 2023, the Sequel Spiral™ Tampon received clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a medical device and the company will now begin a series of consumer trials, with broad availability expected in Q1 of 2024.

New this year to Hygienix was Lightning Talks and pre-conference webinars. Lightning Talks are short presentations covering new trends, products and ideas in absorbent hygiene. The pre-conference webinar topics featured the new Quality Audit Program from INDA and EDANA, an in-depth look at the period care product category, and North American trends and insights in baby diapers.

Back was a hands-on workshop providing attendees with information on the various absorption systems used in disposable hygiene products. This workshop focused on the components and interaction of the absorption system in common commercial hygiene products. The workshop was led by Jim Robinson, Principal, Absorbent Hygiene Insights, LLC.

Jim Robinson received the honor of being named the 2023 INDA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award winner for his decades of technical advancements that have grown the nonwovens industry. Robinson has 33 years in the absorbent hygiene industry, including 28 years as a Technical Service Manager at BASF. Robinson has extensive knowledge of SAP applications, absorbent core formation, and hygiene article design, performance and testing.

Hygienix 2024 will be held Nov. 18-21, in Nashville, Tennessee.

The adoption of composite parts based on flax fibres by the Marine Industry continues to grow, with major OEMs as well as smaller shipyards now aiming to take advantage of the reduced carbon impact and impressive mechanical properties they can provide.

“Over the last ten or fifteen years, several innovative flax fibre boats have been built and the fibre has started to gain significant traction,” says Julie Pariset, Innovation & CSR Director at the Alliance for European Flax-Linen and Hemp. “In addition to the environmental benefits, manufacturers are realising significant technical and processing gains with flax fibre composites.”

“Flax is a very low-density fibre, with a high specific stiffness,” she explains. “It can be used to manufacture composite laminates with mechanical properties not dissimilar to typical E-glass composites and the coefficient of thermal expansion of a flax fibre epoxy part is also quite close to that of a carbon fibre part.” This allows the materials to work well in combined assemblies with carbon fibre composites and the flax parts are also highly impact resistant.

Flax fibres also provide acoustic and vibration damping in composite applications, as well as providing a warm and aesthetically pleasing appearance below decks.

ecoRacer30
As a member of the Alliance for European Flax-Linen and Hemp, Bcomp, headquartered in Fribourg, Switzerland, has this year been working with Northern Light Composites (nlcomp), based in Monfalcone, northern Italy, on the creation of what is billed as the first fully recyclable nine-metre-long sailing boat – the ecoRacer30.

The boat is based on nlcomp’s proprietary rComposite technology – a combination of thermoplastic resins and BComp’s ampliTex high-performance natural fibre reinforcement fabrics and patented powerRibs technology.

It was built in a collaborative effort with the help of Barcelona-based Magnani Yachts, which took care of the composite manufacturing, and Sangiorgio Marine, which provided technical assistance as the boat was being assembled at its shipyard in Genova, Italy.

Magnani Yachts has subsequently become the first shipyard to hold an rComposite license and others are now being encouraged to adopt the technology.

The second ecoracer30 is currently under construction and has already been sold and nlcomp is planning to build a fleet of eight of these boats in time to enter a series of regattas in the summer of 2025.

Flax 27 Daysailer
Greenboats, based in Bremen, Germany, is another specialist in building boats from natural fibre composites and has this year launched the Flax 27 daysailer.

The lower hull of this vessel is also made from Bcomp’s ampliTex technical fabrics in combination with a sandwich core of recycled PET bottles. Using a vacuum infusion process, the fibres were integrated with a plant-based epoxy resin in order to further reduce the CO₂ footprint of the vessel.

The light structure and modern shapes of the lower hull of the boat result in very fast, sharp and agile handling on the water.

Greenboats has also recently announced significant new backing from alliance member Groupe Depestele, which manages 13,000 hectares of flax land in Normandy, France.

Blue Nomad
A project in Switzerland has meanwhile proposed the use of flax fibre composites in solar-powered habitats designed for comfortable living on the oceans – as the world grapples with the frightening implications of climate change and rising sea levels.

As envisaged by students from Institut auf dem Rosenberg in St Gallen, Switzerland working with Denmark-based SAGA Space Architects, Blue Nomad structures would form modular blocks to establish large communities and oceanic farms.
 

Autoneum Holding Ltd has been awarded the gold medal in the 2023 EcoVadis sustainability rating, ranking the automotive supplier in the top 5% of companies assessed. Following a silver medal the previous year, the Company was able to further improve the overall rating of its sustainability performance in the four categories Environment, Labor and Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement and achieved the second-highest recognition level.

As part of its commitment to transparency towards its stakeholders and the public at large, Autoneum reports regularly on its key developments and achievements in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In addition to reporting in line with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, Autoneum uses external platforms such as EcoVadis – a globally recognized sustainability rating agency – to assess the quality of its sustainability management system. EcoVadis uses 21 criteria based on international CSR standards to rate companies in four categories: Environment, Labor and Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement. Since its foundation in 2007, EcoVadis has assessed the sustainability performance of more than 100 000 companies from 175 countries.

In the 2023 sustainability rating by EcoVadis, Autoneum achieved gold medal status for the first time, placing it in the top 5% of companies assessed. Having already been awarded the EcoVadis silver medal in 2022, Autoneum thus moved up to the second-highest recognition level in this year’s rating, thanks to significant progress in the Environment and Labor and Human Rights categories.

More information on Autoneum’s sustainable products and processes can be found in the current issue of the Corporate Responsibility Report.

INDA, The Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, announces that Director of Government Affairs Wes Fisher was named a 2023 Top Lobbyist by the National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics (NILE). The list includes professionals with legislative success in 2023, have been innovative in their field, are held in high regard by their peers, give back to their community through charity or pro bono work, and adhere to the highest ethical standards.

Fisher joined INDA in 2022, he previously held senior government affairs positions at the Pet Advocacy Network and the National Automatic Merchandising Association. His work at INDA has included interfacing with lawmakers, regulators, and stakeholders at the state, local, federal, and international levels and participating in UN negotiations regarding the ongoing Global Plastics Treaty. He serves on the board of directors of the Washington Area State Relations Group (WASRG) and in 2022 was appointed by the Governor of Virginia to the Virginia Rare Disease Council.

A delegation of 12 Italian textile machinery manufacturers will be on hand at the ITME Africa trade show, to be held in Nairobi (Kenya) from November 30th to December 2nd 2023. These Italian companies will be exhibiting at the Italian Pavilion, organized by ACIMIT, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, and by the Italian Trade Agency.

Kenya’s economy is among the most dynamic in sub-Saharan Africa, with annual GDP growth rates of around 6%. Its textile and garments industry ranks among the Country’s leading economic revenue sources, and is supported by government programs aimed at sustaining growth, as well as international agreements, such as the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and Kenya, currently in the process of ratification.

The total value of Kenya’s imports of textile machinery reached Euros 24 million in 2022. In the future, demand from local companies will mainly focus on high-end and medium to high-end technology, thus allowing Italian manufacturers to strengthen their market share in Kenya. Currently, Italian imports amount to approximately 4% of total imported machinery technology, for a value of roughly Euros 900 thousands in 2022.

Among the 12 Italian exhibitors the following ones are ACIMIT associated members: Biancalani, Bianco; Danitech, Ferraro, Lgl, Mei, Monti Antonio, Reggiani Macchine, Savio, Stalam and Tomsic.

PREMIUM Berlin will not take place in January 2024. The critical developments in the industry, and the changed global economic situation are presenting big trade fair formats with a new dimension of challenges.
 
PREMIUM, which started as an underdog in 2003 and established an entire segment in the industry, has developed into an icon. The original concepts and approaches have shaped the fashion world. However, as is so often the case in the fast-moving fashion industry, even outstanding success stories come to an end. The management team led by Anita Tillmann and Jörg Arntz recognised this change and paved the way for SEEK, which was launched in 2009.
 
The entire industry has changed significantly in recent years and is still undergoing a transformation. It has become clear that large trade fairs are no longer in keeping with the times. Instead, boutique trade fairs and specialised events are trending. Events like SEEK enable a closer connection between exhibitors, visitors and the community, which is of great economic and social importance in today's world.

SEEK, which has focussed on its core segment in recent years and serves the streetwear segment, will continue its mission with its loyal network. The platform has not only established itself for forward-thinking brands, but is also the proud organiser of the "Conscious Club", the largest hub on the topic of sustainability in the industry. Here, visitors and exhibitors will not only find the most important trends and ideas in the field of sustainability, but also the most exciting new collections from the pioneers who are responsible for the positive changes.
 
With a clear focus on product quality, community building and strong values such as honesty, creativity, and resilience, SEEK is able to meet the needs of its target audience. So far, the feedback from the committed brands has been consistently positive. The SEEK team is pleased to be able to continue to rely on this commitment and build on it. Around 200 brands are expected again in January.
Berlin will continue to be a place where new trends are set, creative collaborations are formed, and business is done.
 
Although the decision to close PREMIUM is the end of an era, it does not mean the end for the fashion world, but rather opens new doors and enables new opportunities. SEEK is ready to shape this change with like-minded partners and continue to make a significant contribution to the development of the industry.