From the Sector

China in-store, which was established under the name C-Star as an official satellite of EuroShop in Shanghai in 2015, will be held in Hall N1 of the Shanghai New International Expo Center from 3 to 5 September 2024. In consumer-friendly and tech-savvy China innovative store design plays a prominent role, which is why the trade fair specifically focuses on instore design and high-end solutions for brands. On display will be solutions for store design, fittings, but also retail technologies that help to selectively shape stores as spaces for interacting with shoppers as well as stage their brand messages.

After the success of last year’s event attracting over 100 exhibitors and almost 14,000 trade visitors, China in-store 2024 will offer over 200 providers of retail design and retail-relevant solutions the opportunity to showcase their latest instore design, retail technology and retail solutions while inviting industry professionals to explore, learn and network. The exhibited products and solutions for shopfitting and the retail industry will include store design, materials as well as surfaces and furnishings for shops – ranging from displays fixtures and mannequins to visual merchandising services and omnichannel technologies.

Since personalisation in retail is increasing in importance, the Designer Village will present design companies with trail-blazing stand designs and visual merchandising solutions. The special area will inspire visitors with innovative store concepts that improve both the brand image and customer journey. At the Retail Technology Village the latest advances in AI, VR and data analytics will be presented. These technologies enable an omnichannel experience for shoppers and convert physical stores into third places. On the Retail Stage and the Design Stage experts, retailers and brands will present the latest retail trends, shopfitting strategies and innovations that drive the retail market. A themed exhibition is dedicated to changing trends in retail area design.  

Once again proving a highlight of China in-store will be the presentation of the ERDA China (EuroShop RetailDesign Award China) on 4 September 2024; this award recognises store designs and extraordinary store concepts from the Chinese market. This year the categories were extended. 

At PRSE in Amsterdam, the DischargePro control system from EREMA's POWERFIL business unit was presented with the Plastics Recycling Award Europe in the "Recycling Machinery Innovation of the Year" category. The smart technology for the EREMA laser filter improves process stability over the entire operating period and reacts automatically to fluctuations during the recycling process.

The DischargePro system automatically compensates for fluctuations in the input material, thereby ensuring uniform thickening during melt filtration and thus a consistent process. Depending on the application and contamination, POWERFIL was able to reduce melt loss by up to 50 percent with the DischargePro compared to the previous EREMA laser filter control system. These facts convinced the jury, who described the technology as an intelligent technological advance in the extrusion process.

With the DischargePro control system, POWERFIL significantly increases the degree of automation in the filter process. The discharge control system reacts to specific disruptions in the process. In this way, the speed of the scraper star is adjusted at short notice and returns to the setpoint speed as soon as the contamination peak has been discharged. Furthermore, the control system also recognizes changes in throughput and adjusts the discharge rates accordingly. In the event of a higher pressure drop across the filter screen, which is caused by a higher viscosity of the melt, DischargePro adjusts the setpoint value to ensure a consistent discharge rate. Long-term changes, such as the condition of the filter screen, are also taken into account in all adjustments.

Jeanologia has been honored with the title of 'Best Business Project' in the inaugural edition of the Spanish Fashion Academy Awards, aimed at recognizing and highlighting the key players in the Spanish fashion industry.

At a gala celebrating Spanish talent, Jeanologia emerged as a leading authority in sustainability and technology applied to fashion. The accolade from the Spanish Fashion Academy acknowledges Jeanologia's global vision and leadership, as well as its ability to catalyze positive change in the global fashion industry. Chosen from over 400 contenders and endorsed by the votes of 129 distinguished founding academics, the award reflects the recognition of Jeanologia's influence in the sector.

The award ceremony, held on Thursday, June 13, at Madrid's Teatro Fernán Gómez Centro Cultural de la Villa, attracted prominent figures from the Spanish fashion scene and marked a significant moment in Spanish fashion, paying homage to the legacy of Cristóbal Balenciaga, a pivotal figure who would have turned 129 in 2024.

Enrique Silla, CEO and founder of Jeanologia, accepted the award statuette, a design by Helena Rohner inspired by Balenciaga's iconic headdress.

Teijin Carbon Europe has been awarded ISCC PLUS certification (Certificate Number: ISCC-PLUS-Cert-DE100-15897124). This ISCC PLUS certification covers Tenax™ Carbon Fiber produced at the Heinsberg-Oberbruch plant in Germany. This accreditation enables the Teijin Group to offer its customers sustainable products that contribute to circular economy. Teijin has selected the ISCC certification route as the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) is an independent organisation and the leading certification system in this field.

The ISCC PLUS certification is a voluntary system which administers the circular economy of chemicals, plastics, packaging, textiles and renewable raw materials. Raw materials which are made from sustainable source materials (e.g. via recycling or bio-based sources) are labelled with a sustainability declaration (country of origin of the raw material, quantity and type of sustainable raw material, user ID, etc.). This document then follows the product during further processing – even over several stages – until it is used by the end customer. If all partners in the chain are ISCC PLUS certified, the documents can be passed on clearly and reliably.

The Teijin Group is globally establishing a carbon fiber production and supply system based on ISCC PLUS certification. The attractiveness of ISCC PLUS certification for the Teijin Group is exemplified by the future production of sustainable carbon fibers. Teijin uses various chemical building blocks for the internal production of polyacrylonitrile. Conventional and sustainable raw materials can now be purchased and processed on the global market. In future, Teijin also intends to purchase materials that are obtained via recycling or directly based on a bio-based source.

These raw materials will then be processed into a sustainable polyacrylonitrile precursor. As the production processes are identical to those used in the conventional production of carbon fibers, the mechanical and chemical properties are identical. Based on the sustainability declaration, a clear mass balance is used to differentiate between sustainable and conventional products.

The Teijin Group obtained ISCC PLUS certification for carbon fiber and the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor fiber produced at Teijin's Mishima Plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan in June 2023, and began mass production of carbon fiber based on the certification in December of the same year. The Teijin Group benefits from this approach as customers are offered products that contribute to the circular economy or continue to use conventional raw materials.

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, has opened nominations for the Hygienix Innovation Award™. This Award recognizes a new product or technology in the absorbent hygiene, personal, pet, and wound care industries that expands the usage of nonwoven fabrics.

The Award will be presented at Hygienix™ 2024, Nov. 18-21 at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Nominations will be accepted through Mon., Sept. 16th.

Nominees will be selected from a broad range of new products or technologies that have been commercially available at most two years prior to Hygienix 2024. Eligible categories include, but are not limited to: raw materials, roll goods, converting, packaging, active ingredients, binders, additives, and end-use products.

Three finalists will present their innovations to industry leaders at Hygienix Tues., Nov. 19th. The winner will be announced Thurs., Nov. 21st.

Last year’s Hygienix Innovation Award was presented to Sequel for their Sequel Spiral™ Tampon. 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.

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, announced the three finalists for the World of Wipes Innovation Award®. The Award will be presented at the annual World of Wipes® (WOW) International Conference, June 17-20, at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The three products vying for this Award are multi-purpose cleaning wipes from Kimberly-Clark Professional, a bio-binder technology from OrganoClick, and facial care wipes from Rockline Industries. The winner will be announced on Thursday morning, June 20th.

The three companies competing for the Award are:

• Scott® Xtreme Multi-Purpose Cleaning Wipes by Kimberly-Clark Professional:
  Scott® Xtreme Multi-Purpose Cleaning Wipes are great for tackling extreme cleaning tasks, like removing oil, grease, grime, paint, adhesives, caulk, and more, yet are gentle enough to clean hands.  Featuring a patented citrus cleaning solution, the dual-action cleaning fabric incorporates a textured side to increase scrubbing action for cleaning tough soils and a smooth side for wiping surfaces clean.  Scott® Xtreme Multi-Purpose Cleaning Wipes are truly a must-have for any DIY job and cleaning on-the-go.
• OC-Biobinder® Lily1450 by OrganoClick:
  OC-Biobinder® represents a series of bio-based and biodegradable binders intended for the nonwoven and paper industry. They are produced from renewable raw materials and residual streams from the food industry and replace traditional fossil-based plastic binders. OC-Biobinder® is available with many different properties adapted to the production of home compostable nonwoven materials such as premium napkins, table cloths and wet wipes.
• Facial Care Wipe with Glycine Amino Acid Complex by Rockline Industries:
  Rockline’s development of a facial wipe product containing a unique multifunctional complex of two glycines, a phospholipid compound and a blend of glycols allows for a multitude of skincare benefits as well as providing a self-preserving system for cellulosic nonwovens. Believed to be the first application of glycines in a wet wipe formulation, the product offers improved skin smoothness, elasticity, and hydration alongside an anti-aging claim.

INDA’s Technical Advisory Board selected the finalists based on the creativity, uniqueness, and technical sophistication employed in finding novel ways to expand the utilization of nonwovens. Categories considered for the award were wipes-related raw materials, roll goods, converting, packaging, active ingredients, binders, additives, and end-use products.

The 2023 World of Wipes Innovation Award winner was Indorama Ventures and Polymateria for their Nonwoven Wipe Using Biotransformation Technology. This innovative spunlace wipe utilized advanced biotransformation technology developed jointly by Indorama Ventures and Polymateria. Meeting the BSI PAS 9017 specification, this wipe in the event it becomes fugitive, and exposed to heat, sunlight, air and moisture will transform into a harmless, bioavailable wax at its end-of-life, eliminating microplastic pollution. Compatible with mechanical recycling and combatting 'fugitive' waste, this wipe represents a significant leap towards eco-friendly, sustainable nonwoven hygiene products.

Vision and technology are the key ingredients of a ground-breaking school blazer that is showing how businesses can move to a circular textiles economy.  
 
While many brands are grappling with the complexities of inevitable legislation and engrained business models, leading school uniform producer, David Luke, has launched a fully recyclable ‘circular’ school blazer that is designed to be recycled through Project Re:claim, the world’s first commercial-scale polyester recycling plant.
 
Project Re:claim is a joint venture between the UK’s largest charity textile collector, The Salvation Army, and leading circularity specialists Project Plan B. The plant opened in the UK in January 2024, and presents huge opportunities for brands to transition to textile-to-textile manufacturing models.
 
David Luke’s circular blazer has been introduced to the brand’s successful Eco-uniform range which has sold over 1.7 million Eco-blazers in the last decade. Up until 2023, David Luke’s Eco-blazer, like many recycled garments, has been made from recycled plastic bottles. But the company has been working with Tim Cross, CEO of Project Plan B and the Circular Textiles Foundation, to bring the 100% recyclable blazer to market.
 
Tim Cross said: “David Luke has grasped the opportunity to embed 100% recyclable and 100% recycled garments into their range, starting with the school blazer. We now have the technology to enable their blazers to be recycled without any separation of the garment, making it an efficient recycling process. The team at David Luke has worked tirelessly with their manufacturers to create a blazer that does not compromise on design or quality, and yet is much kinder to the environment.”
 
Every detail from the lining, buttons and zips to the inter-linings and adhesives, has been re-thought and re-designed to meet the demands of an everyday school blazer and to recycle the garment once it reaches its end-of-life. Up until now, when the blazers have eventually been handed down to siblings, or given to the local charity shop, there had been no end-of-life solution for polyester garments apart from incineration. Now, Project Re:claim can recycle the blazer to produce polyester pellets, which are then spun into yarn to be used for future David Luke circular blazers.
 
Cross continues: “David Luke has the vision to create a fully circular range, and we have the potential to supply recycled content. The possibilities are infinite in terms of the future of garment design and manufacturing.”
 
Kathryn Shuttleworth, Chief Executive of David Luke, said: “It is a natural next step for us to transition to a textile-to-textile model. We have been producing garments using recycled plastic bottles for 15 years, but we have always had an eye on developments in textile recycling and solutions for end-of-life garments.”
 
In 2020, David Luke was awarded the Queen’s award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development and in January 2023 the David Luke circular blazer achieved Circular Foundation Textile certification.
 
Shuttleworth added: “Our focus will always be on those essential ingredients for parents and children - style, durability and affordability. But we have a responsibility to change our business model to better protect children’s future and the environment. It has become our obsession to make uniforms that meet our customers’ demands. We are really excited about the future as we continue to develop our range.”
 
Majonne Frost, Head of Environment and Sustainability for Salvation Army Trading Company, said: “Our vision is to enable companies to produce uniforms, corporate wear, fashion garments and textile ranges using recycled polyester.  We have the infrastructure to collect donations at scale and we now need companies to step up. This is an opportunity for companies to make a commitment to significantly reduce their environmental impact, and David Luke are showing us how that is possible.”

At the Techtextil trade fair in Frankfurt, the Chairman of the Walter Reiners Foundation of the VDMA, Peter D. Dornier, presented awards to six successful young engineers. Promotion and sustainability prizes were awarded in the categories bachelor/project theses and diploma/master theses. Academic theses in which, for example, solutions for resource-saving products and technologies are developed are eligible for the sustainability prizes.

The Walter Reiners Foundation awarded Anna Markic a sustainability prize worth 3,000 euros in the Bachelor's category. The topic of her thesis, written at Reutlingen University, was the recycling of carbon fibres.

Mark Zenzinger, Albstadt-Sigmaringen University, received a 3,000 euro promotion award in the Bachelor's category. His topic was the automation of the process chain for the production of welded textile hard goods.
 
Lena Fink from the TU Dresden received another promotion award worth 3,000 euros. Her construction engineering project work focused on a device to simplify the maintenance of braiding machines.

Fabio Bussmann from RWTH Aachen was awarded a promotion prize in the Master's category, worth 3,500 euros. In his thesis, he analysed the life cycle assessments of alternative semi-finished products for geotextiles.

Katharina Maria Ernst, TU Dresden, was honoured with a sustainability prize of 3,500 euros in the Master's category. Her work focused on the development of a suitable process for the treatment of chitosan fibres as an alternative starting product in the production of carbon fibres.

Lennart Hellwig, RWTH Aachen University, was awarded a 3,500 euro prize in the Master's category. He focused on the topic of machine learning using the example of a nonwovens plant.

Companies, designers, architects and agencies worldwide are now invited to submit their products and projects for the German Design Awards 2025. The German Design Awards by the German Design Council honours projects that are pioneering in the German and international design landscape and highlights positive developments in circular design. The award not only makes success visible, but also opens up a network, international reach and additional market opportunities for the award winners. Application deadline is 6 September 2024.
 
Whether digitalisation, AI or circular design - the German Design Award platform reveals the contribution that design can make to the sustainable transformation of the economy. Now more than ever, outstanding design can provide answers to the challenges of our time, focussing on the impact of products and services on the planet and our society - through multi-perspective approaches, sustainable and circular design processes or resource- and environmentally friendly production. The German Design Award has set itself the goal of promoting the diverse transformation tasks of our time through design and providing orientation for others through outstanding examples.

Focus on circular design
Starting this year, companies and designers can submit their projects in an additional category called "Circular Design". This category recognises particularly innovative solutions that implement the current objectives of the circular economy and provide inspiring impulses.

The  international jury of the German Design Awards honours these pioneering design achievements in three main categories: "Excellent Product Design", "Excellent Communications Design" and "Excellent Architecture".

New category
To visualise pioneering developments in architecture through the influence of artificial intelligence and digital design methods, designers and developers can submit projects, service designs and virtual architectures in the "AI in Architecture and Metaverse Space Design" category from this year onwards.

Access to the American market
The German Design Council has entered into an exclusive TV partnership with CBS/Paramount's new US documentary series Europe ByDesign, offering German Design Award winners far-reaching opportunities to position themselves on the US market. You can present your work in the next season of Europe ByDesign, which will be broadcasted in prime time on CBS in the USA as well as streamed worldwide.
 
Important dates at a glance

• Call for entries: 23 April 2024
• Register at the Early Bird price: until 21 June 2024
• Deadline for grant applications: 30 August 2024
• Registration deadline: 6 September 2024
• Jury meeting: 26 and 27 September 2024
• Awards Show: Beginning of February 2025

CARBIOS was awarded 1st prize in the "So French So Innovative" Award organized by Business France, the Hong Kong Committee of French Foreign Trade Advisors (CCEF), La French Tech and its partners at InnoEX 2024 (taking place in Hong Kong from 13 to 16 April). The award recognizes French innovation to promote and support French Tech in the Asia-Pacific region. The final awards ceremony was held on the French pavilion in the presence of members of the Hong Kong Government and Christile Drulhe, Consul General of France in Hong Kong.

Emmanuel Ladent, CEO of CARBIOS: "Asia-Pacific is a key market for our PET biorecycling solution, and the 'So French So Innovative' Award is a recognition that supports CARBIOS’ prospection and commercial deployment in the region. CARBIOS' technology is generating a lot of interest, leading to promising discussions and the exploration of commercial agreements to support the sustainability commitments and international operations of current and future partners."

CARBIOS' global presence
In a dynamic global PET market, where the share of recycled PET will increase, CARBIOS' ambition is to become a leading r-PET player by 2035. CARBIOS has extended its international reach to boost its commercial deployment worldwide. Teams in place in key markets are dedicated to identifying business opportunities and establishing commercial partnerships for PET biorecycling technology, with first agreements expected in 2024. To date, CARBIOS is represented in three regions: Europe, North America (including Canada) and Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and soon India).