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(c) INDA
10.05.2023

Four Nonwoven Industry Professionals honored with INDA Lifetime Awards

NDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, announced four recipients for the Lifetime Service Award and Lifetime Technical Achievement Awards. Jan O’Regan, Seshadri Ramkumar, Jim Robinson, and Ed Thomas are being recognized for their key contributions to the growth of the nonwovens industry and INDA.

NDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, announced four recipients for the Lifetime Service Award and Lifetime Technical Achievement Awards. Jan O’Regan, Seshadri Ramkumar, Jim Robinson, and Ed Thomas are being recognized for their key contributions to the growth of the nonwovens industry and INDA.

Jan O’Regan: INDA Lifetime Service Award
Jan O’Regan was the Director, Strategic Initiatives and Nonwovens Marketing, for Cotton Incorporated and retired in 2022. In this capacity, she uncovered new opportunities for cotton to bring value into the nonwovens industry. Her work included leading efforts in strategic planning, technical and market project management, and sharing new ideas and results with the global supply chain.
O’Regan spent over four decades in the nonwovens industry in various roles, including sales, marketing, strategic planning and business management. Market responsibilities included consumer and industrial markets on regional, national, and global teams. Over the most recent years, she applied these broad experiences to new markets for cotton in nontraditional applications.
Serving and volunteering with INDA for decades, O’Regan most recently chaired the World of Wipes® committee, which she efficiently organized to produce innovative conferences for the wipes industry.  She was a frequent speaker at INDA, INSIGHT, EDANA, and other events, and for nearly two decades was a go to source of information for cotton fibers in nonwovens and hygiene. O’Regan earned a BS in Textiles and Business, summa cum laude, from Penn State University and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Seshadri Ramkumar: INDA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award
Seshadri Ramkumar has over twenty-five years of experience within the technical nonwovens space, conducting industry leading research and educating nonwovens professionals at Texas Tech University (TTU).  At TTU, he established the Nonwovens Laboratory. Many of Ramkumar’s students have gone on to become technical leaders within their organizations and the nonwovens industry.
Ramkumar has numerous patent and invention disclosures, including Fibertect® toxic chemical decontamination wipes which have been recognized by the American Chemical Society as a notable success of federally supported innovation, endorsed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and adopted by multiple branches of the military.
In addition to many peer-reviewed publications, articles, and columns collectively over 500, including one on nanofibers that has been cited over 2,100 times, Ramkumar has contributed his expertise on the editorial boards of multiple fiber, nonwoven, and textile journals. Ramkumar has also organized conferences for nonwovens and textiles and actively promoted INDA and its technical training offerings for over 20 years.
He is a longtime member of the INDA Technical Advisory Board, been recognized by TAPPI, Society of Dyers and Colorists (UK), the Textile Institute (UK), and the Textile Association (INDIA), and received numerous awards from TTU.
Ramkumar holds a Bachelors of Technology (Textiles), Graduated with Distinction, and a Masters of Technology (Textiles), University First Rank in the Discipline, Anna University, and a Ph.D. (Textile Materials) from the University of Leeds, UK.

Jim Robinson: INDA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award
Jim Robinson has 33 years in the absorbent hygiene industry, including 28 years as a Technical Service Manager at BASF. He led technical teams that focused on the application of superabsorbent polymers (SAP) in hygiene products. Robinson has extensive knowledge of SAP applications, absorbent core formation, and hygiene article design, performance and testing. While with BASF, Robinson led efforts with multiple external companies to provide co-supplier solutions to hygiene converters.
Robinson’s extensive understanding of test methods and test method development led to his coordinating the establishment of fitness for use standards of adult incontinent products with the National Association for Continence and involvement in development and review of absorbent product test methods with INDA/EDANA. He is also an active contributor to INDA’s Technical Advisory Board and Hygienix organizing committee and was a contributing developer in establishing the INDA Absorbent Hygiene Training Course. Robinson has provided numerous presentations at INSIGHT, Hygienix, and RISE on performance and interactions of absorbent system components.
Recently, Robinson has been consulting and contributing to the success of multiple start-ups including those having been nominated for INDA product awards. Robinson has a BS in Chemistry from Hampden-Sydney College and an MS in Chemistry from Duke University.

Ed Thomas: INDA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award
Ed Thomas retired after 39 years, with 32 years in the nonwovens industry, and has remained active teaching the Intermediate Nonwovens Training Course for INDA and The Nonwovens Institute at North Carolina State University, as well as providing consulting services to the industry.
Thomas’ experience includes Process Engineering Manager and Plant Management, DuPont; Technical Director, Reemay; VP of Research and Operations, VP of Operations and Technology, and Global VP of Research and Development for Fiberweb/BBA Nonwovens; and Head of Research and Product Development, First Quality Nonwovens.
Thomas holds 10 U.S. nonwoven patents and he and his teams have been awarded more than 250 patents for numerous and diverse innovations that have played significant roles in the success of the nonwovens industry. These include applications for the global hygiene market, industrial nonwovens, and filtration media.
During his career, Thomas has presented several keynote addresses and papers to industry conferences, participated in North Carolina State University’s Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center (NCRC) prior to it becoming The Nonwovens Institute (NWI), INDA’s Technical Advisory Board, INDA’s Sustainability Committee, and was Vice Chair of NWI’s Industrial Advisory Board prior to retirement and remains an Emeritus member.
Thomas received his mechanical engineering degree from SUNY Buffalo.

15.03.2023

Indorama Ventures and Polymateria sign partnership for biodegradable hygiene products

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) and technology specialist Polymateria Limited have signed an exclusive 10-year partnership to help household brands bring biodegradable nonwoven hygiene products to the market through biotransformation technology.

This collaboration provides a new solution for dealing with essential items like facemasks and wipes once they have been used, ensuring they can return safely to nature without leaving behind any microplastics or toxic residue. It is specifically designed to tackle plastic leaking into the environment as unmanaged waste, meaning it is neither collected for landfill nor recycled. Given that most of the plastic in our oceans originates as unmanaged waste on land, addressing the unmanaged waste challenge is key.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) and technology specialist Polymateria Limited have signed an exclusive 10-year partnership to help household brands bring biodegradable nonwoven hygiene products to the market through biotransformation technology.

This collaboration provides a new solution for dealing with essential items like facemasks and wipes once they have been used, ensuring they can return safely to nature without leaving behind any microplastics or toxic residue. It is specifically designed to tackle plastic leaking into the environment as unmanaged waste, meaning it is neither collected for landfill nor recycled. Given that most of the plastic in our oceans originates as unmanaged waste on land, addressing the unmanaged waste challenge is key.

IVL’s right to use Polymateria’s unique biotransformation technology for nonwovens supports application in non-virgin resin recycling while providing a solution for ‘fugitive’ used articles, especially those items that end up in the natural environment. This biotransformation process involves the plastic transforming into a bioavailable wax in the open terrestrial environment, whereupon the wax is fully consumed by bacteria, microbes and fungi, leaving just carbon dioxide, water, and biomass. The pulp component is inherently biodegradable under similar conditions.

Nonwovens made by IVL using Polymateria’s technology have been independently tested against, and meet the criteria in, the BSI PAS 9017 standard for the biodegradation of polyolefins in an open-air terrestrial environment published by the British Standards Institution in October 2020. This standard and/or its criteria – the first in the world to ensure plastic can biotransform in the open terrestrial environment without creating any microplastics – is being adopted around the world including in India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Hungary.

Source:

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited

30.12.2022

Avgol® announces new line investment at US facility

Avgol® has announced a significant investment in a new high-speed, high-capacity flexible multiple beam production line at its facility in Mocksville, USA.

Avgol, an Indorama Ventures Limited company, is a leader in the hygiene market with a comprehensive range of ultra-lightweight spun-melt nonwoven fabrics. This new, sixth line at the company’s facility in Mocksville will see Avgol investing in new Reicofil 5 (RF5) technology and underlines the company’s commitment to the region as a domestic supplier. The investment will deliver biocomponent and corresponding high-loft capabilities, with the line producing materials for applications that meet the needs of upper tier products for Hygiene customers.

As part of the investment, Avgol is also introducing extra capacity for meltblown production, ensuring a continuous supply of this critical material for both the region and customers worldwide.

Another aspect of the investment includes the addition of cutting-edge lamination capabilities, which enables Avgol to offer enhanced performance products into the existing markets the company serves, as well as to explore new opportunities in other markets.

Avgol® has announced a significant investment in a new high-speed, high-capacity flexible multiple beam production line at its facility in Mocksville, USA.

Avgol, an Indorama Ventures Limited company, is a leader in the hygiene market with a comprehensive range of ultra-lightweight spun-melt nonwoven fabrics. This new, sixth line at the company’s facility in Mocksville will see Avgol investing in new Reicofil 5 (RF5) technology and underlines the company’s commitment to the region as a domestic supplier. The investment will deliver biocomponent and corresponding high-loft capabilities, with the line producing materials for applications that meet the needs of upper tier products for Hygiene customers.

As part of the investment, Avgol is also introducing extra capacity for meltblown production, ensuring a continuous supply of this critical material for both the region and customers worldwide.

Another aspect of the investment includes the addition of cutting-edge lamination capabilities, which enables Avgol to offer enhanced performance products into the existing markets the company serves, as well as to explore new opportunities in other markets.

 

Source:

Avgol by Indorama Ventures Limited / PHD Marketing Ltd

(c) Avgol by Indorama Ventures Limited
30.12.2022

Avgol® wins Procter & Gamble Supplier Excellence Award

Avgol®, an Indorama Ventures Limited company, has been honoured with the Supplier Excellence Award by leading global brand Procter & Gamble.

The award was in recognition of Avgol, a leader in the manufacture of high-performance nonwoven fabric solutions, ‘being a notable and valuable supplier over the last fiscal year’ to the P&G Baby Care Business Unit.

Avgol CEO Tommi Bjornman said receiving the honour from P&G for the first time is a source of great pride for the company. “The assessment process for the award focuses on us as the supplier showing outstanding contributions across a range of key categories,” he said. “I am delighted and proud that the Avgol team was unanimously identified as being strongest in terms of our collaboration with the customer, as well as in our continuous improvement efforts across all regions of P&G’s global Baby Care program.

“It was heartening that, in making the award, P&G further noted that Avgol’s efforts have significantly assisted in their own commercial growth during a challenging period for the Hygiene market,” he said.

Avgol®, an Indorama Ventures Limited company, has been honoured with the Supplier Excellence Award by leading global brand Procter & Gamble.

The award was in recognition of Avgol, a leader in the manufacture of high-performance nonwoven fabric solutions, ‘being a notable and valuable supplier over the last fiscal year’ to the P&G Baby Care Business Unit.

Avgol CEO Tommi Bjornman said receiving the honour from P&G for the first time is a source of great pride for the company. “The assessment process for the award focuses on us as the supplier showing outstanding contributions across a range of key categories,” he said. “I am delighted and proud that the Avgol team was unanimously identified as being strongest in terms of our collaboration with the customer, as well as in our continuous improvement efforts across all regions of P&G’s global Baby Care program.

“It was heartening that, in making the award, P&G further noted that Avgol’s efforts have significantly assisted in their own commercial growth during a challenging period for the Hygiene market,” he said.

In 2018, Indorama Ventures Limited (IVL), a leading petrochemicals producer and global integrated leader in PET and fibres, acquired majority ownership of Avgol, resulting in a focused and faster growth of Avgol Nonwovens.

“With the combined financial, technical, commercial strength and expertise of Avgol and IVL, Avgol has been working hard to develop innovative products, putting sustainability front and centre in our plans for the future and ensuring we deliver the very best product and service to our customers around the world,” said Tommi Bjornman.

 

Source:

Avgol by Indorama Ventures Limited / PHD Marketing Ltd

Photo: ANDRITZ
21.12.2022

ANDRITZ: Customer day for hygiene products value chain

ANDRITZ has organized a customer day fully dedicated to the absorbent hygiene products value chain on November 09, 2022. This event took place at the ANDRITZ Diatec premises in Pescara, Italy, with a variety of key players from the nonwovens industry coming from all over Europe and beyond.

At this event, attendees benefited from live demonstrations of converting lines, market and nonwoven production insights, a panel discussion on sustainability, and networking opportunities, including:

  • Recent market situation, trends, and some food for thoughts
  • Technology insights for nonwoven roll-good production: Spunjet Soft, Air-Through Bonding, and Spunlace
  • Company tour with live demonstration of converting lines
  • Panel discussion on sustainability accompanied by important industry players around the value chain

ANDRITZ has organized a customer day fully dedicated to the absorbent hygiene products value chain on November 09, 2022. This event took place at the ANDRITZ Diatec premises in Pescara, Italy, with a variety of key players from the nonwovens industry coming from all over Europe and beyond.

At this event, attendees benefited from live demonstrations of converting lines, market and nonwoven production insights, a panel discussion on sustainability, and networking opportunities, including:

  • Recent market situation, trends, and some food for thoughts
  • Technology insights for nonwoven roll-good production: Spunjet Soft, Air-Through Bonding, and Spunlace
  • Company tour with live demonstration of converting lines
  • Panel discussion on sustainability accompanied by important industry players around the value chain
Source:

ANDRITZ Küsters GmbH

(c) INDA
25.10.2021

INDA: Innovations in Hygiene & Personal Care at Hygienix™ 2021

With enthusiastic participant registration and continued strong growth projected in absorbent hygiene & personal care markets, excitement is building for the seventh edition of Hygienix as it returns as an in-person event just weeks away, Nov. 15-18, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

INDA reports that more than 300 participants have signed up to attend the conference with participation expected to approach pre-pandemic levels in the 500 range.

The Hygienix conference program will focus on compelling topics including New Options for a Responsible End-of-Life; Product and Process Innovation in Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHPs); Haptics: Four Approaches to Assessing Feel, and E-Hygiene Advancements; Absorbent Hygiene Products Market Stats, Trends and Policy Insights; Feminine Care: Challenges to the Status Quo; and New Approaches and Unmet Needs in Baby and Incontinence AHPs.

The conference will also feature two nonwovens workshops, a welcome reception and opportunities for 60 tabletop displays with receptions.

With enthusiastic participant registration and continued strong growth projected in absorbent hygiene & personal care markets, excitement is building for the seventh edition of Hygienix as it returns as an in-person event just weeks away, Nov. 15-18, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

INDA reports that more than 300 participants have signed up to attend the conference with participation expected to approach pre-pandemic levels in the 500 range.

The Hygienix conference program will focus on compelling topics including New Options for a Responsible End-of-Life; Product and Process Innovation in Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHPs); Haptics: Four Approaches to Assessing Feel, and E-Hygiene Advancements; Absorbent Hygiene Products Market Stats, Trends and Policy Insights; Feminine Care: Challenges to the Status Quo; and New Approaches and Unmet Needs in Baby and Incontinence AHPs.

The conference will also feature two nonwovens workshops, a welcome reception and opportunities for 60 tabletop displays with receptions.

Hygienix Innovation Award Finalists
Among the conference highlights will be the selection of the Hygienix Innovation Award™. The three finalists are all tapping into key trends that are driving growth in this segment – innovation and sustainability – with products that promote health and a healthy environment.

Award finalists making presentations include:

  • Expandable Core Wrap from Curt G. Joa, Inc. – Chris Nelson, Business Development Manager, will provide an overview of this new patent-pending expandable core wrap design that allows the core to expand within the containment wrap as the product is insulted, regardless of the blended fluff and Superabsorbent Polymer (SAP) ratio.    
  • GlatPure™ Back Sheet from Glatfelter – Vishal Bansal, Ph.D., Vice President, Innovation, will share how this product differs from most back sheets in today’s market that are made from plastic film and nonwovens such as Polyethylene (PE).
  • Kudos Diapers from Kudos – According to Kudos Founder & CEO Amrita Saigal, a typical baby spends over 22,000 hours in diapers before potty training, making the material that touches their skin matter. Kudos is the first and only disposable diaper where baby’s bottom touches 100 percent doctor-recommended, carbon-negative, sensitive-skin-friendly cotton all day versus fossil-fuel-derived plastic
18.10.2021

SABIC presents new Portfolio for Nonwovens at INDEX

SABIC has announced that the newly formed Hygiene & Healthcare segment of its Petrochemicals business will showcase its extensive portfolio of SABIC PURECARES™ polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) polymers for high-purity nonwovens and hygiene films at the upcoming INDEX™ Expo in Geneva, Switzerland, from October 19 through 22, 2021. The company will also present enabling solutions developed with partners to address the issue of plastic waste and support the transformation of the industry towards a circular economy with closed-loop initiatives and certified circular polymers under its TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio and services.

SABIC has announced that the newly formed Hygiene & Healthcare segment of its Petrochemicals business will showcase its extensive portfolio of SABIC PURECARES™ polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) polymers for high-purity nonwovens and hygiene films at the upcoming INDEX™ Expo in Geneva, Switzerland, from October 19 through 22, 2021. The company will also present enabling solutions developed with partners to address the issue of plastic waste and support the transformation of the industry towards a circular economy with closed-loop initiatives and certified circular polymers under its TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio and services.

During INDEX, SABIC will exhibit a wide range of PP polymers targeted at these needs. Highlights on display will include dedicated PP and PE grades for lightweight nonwoven fabrics using the latest spunbond and meltblown processes, and a new ultra-high melt flow PP product engineered for meltblown fibers in nonwoven fabrics. The nonwoven focus will be complemented by industry proven polyolefins for cast and blown film applications in hygiene webs and laminates, providing desirable back and top sheet properties such as water tightness, breathability and elasticity.

In addition, SABIC will also present ISCC Plus certified fiber and film polymers based on circular and renewable PP and PE polymer technology as part of the company’s TRUCIRCLE portfolio for advancing the transformation of the plastics industry from a linear to a truly circular economy. Examples of this comprehensive initiative include collaborations with various market leaders in the field. Together with Fibertex Personal Care, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of spunbond nonwovens for the hygiene industry, SABIC is creating a range of high-purity nonwovens for the hygiene market using ISCC PLUS certified circular PP polymer derived from post-consumer plastic waste. In another project, Fraunhofer Institute, SABIC and Procter & Gamble (P&G) joined forces to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of an advanced close-loop recycling process for used nonwoven facemasks.

Source:

SABIC / Marketing Solutions NV