Sustainable Innovations Nonwovens

NONWOVENS - SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS

Nonwovens are a unique class of textile material formed from fibres that are bonded together through various means to form a coherent structure. Given their rapid industrial development and diverse markets, an understanding of nonwovens and their place within the growing focus on sustainability is becoming increasingly important.

Nonwoven materials are increasingly popular for both consumer and industrial applications, from hospital gowns to heavy-duty construction materials. Nonwoven fabrics are materials formed by mechanically, thermally, or chemically binding fibres or filaments. They are used in a wide array of industries and applications, either in combination with other materials or alone, such as apparel linings, automotive headliners and upholstery, carpeting, engineering fabrics, geotextiles, diapers, filters, wipes, hygiene products, insulation, roofing, healthcare and medical products.

Nonwovens are designed for their specific application, ranging from thin, lightweight nonwovens to strong and durable nonwoven applications. The combination of their specific characteristics through raw materials selection, the formation and bonding methods used and the applied finishing treatments, such as printing, embossing and laminating, all permit the delivery of high-performance products.

Smart and growing

Today, nonwovens can be found in almost every aspect of daily life and society. They provide specific functions such as absorbency, liquid repellence, resilience, stretch, softness, strength, flame retardancy, washability, cushioning, thermal insulation, acoustic insulation, filtration, use as a bacterial barrier and sterility.

These properties are often combined to create fabrics suited to specific jobs, while achieving a good balance between product uselife and cost. They can mimic the appearance, texture and strength of a woven fabric and can be as bulky as the thickest paddings. In combination with other materials they provide a spectrum of products with diverse properties.

Today, “smart” or “functional” nonwoven materials are gaining ground across several industries. These high-tech nonwovens incorporate smart coatings or interior layers that provide added functionality such as conductivity, sensor capabilities and antimicrobial characteristics.

Smart coated nonwoven materials are already creating new market opportunities in several markets. For example, antimicrobial properties can be added to disposable hospital gowns and other medical and personal care products. Moisture-sensing nonwoven materials have potential applications for construction and building materials as well as agricultural and environmental purposes. Heated nonwoven materials likewise have potential market opportunities in a variety of industries, including medical, transportation, construction, marine and military.

It comes as no surprise that over recent decades the use of nonwovens has grown steadily. According to figures collected and compiled by EDANA, the leading global association and voice of the nonwoven and related industries, the overall production of nonwovens in Europe grew by around 1.3 per cent in 2018 to reach 2,760,000 tonnes. Over the last decade, the annual average growth rate has been nearly 4 per cent, and similar development is expected in years to come. Indispensable in everyday life

Let’s look at the role nonwovens play in modern life. Nonwovens are extensively used in the medical field and in protection against biological agents in other sectors. They deliver critical safety properties, such as prevention against infections and diseases. With today’s multi-drug resistant strains of bacteria and virus, nonwovens can help in the fight against cross-contamination and the spread of infection in a medical or surgical environment. Because they are used only once and incinerated after use, the need for handling is avoided and the spread of contaminants is minimised.

Nonwovens are also increasingly a major component in the design of “smart” wound-care products, providing such functions as the creation of a moist wound healing environment, with controlled vapour transmission, absorbency and low skin adhesion.

The most recent nonwoven innovations include the design of new scaffolds for 3D biological tissue engineering, implantable fabrics that can reinforce natural tissues, and nano fibre nonwoven filtration media offering enhanced particle capture properties. New nonwoven materials with improved finishes including liquid repellent, virus-proof and bacterial barrier properties have also been developed for applications such as surgical masks, gowns and drapes.

In the hygiene sector, nonwovens have become indispensable. Absorbent hygiene products (AHPs) have made an important contribution to the quality of life and skin health of millions of people. Users of absorbent hygiene products benefit from the softness, smoothness, leakage prevention, strength and protection provided by nonwovens.

In the transport sector, nonwovens are used in numerous applications including cabin air filters, seat trim, floor mats, trunk liner and tyres. The use of nonwovens in the interior and exterior of vehicles continues to grow, and today over 40 automotive parts are made with these types of fabrics. Nonwovens can be up to 30 per cent lighter than the traditional materials they replace and can thus make vehicles lighter and more economical, an important requirement of today’s transport industry.

Similarly, nonwovens offer multiple advantages to the construction sector. Geotextile nonwoven fabrics are used in roadway construction - they can extend the life of a paved road by helping to reduce the number of potholes. Geotextile nonwoven fabrics are also used for erosion control. Road crews use them for the land beside roads and motorways to help prevent erosion from rain, snow and wind.

The development of nonwovens over the last decade has demonstrated that the sector continues to be adaptive and highly creative, seeking and utilising emerging opportunities. This means that in the coming years, we may see a range of nonwoven products that will replace more traditional textiles. This development is further boosted by the increasing focus on sustainability, an area of prime importance for the sector.

Sustainability in focus

Sustainability is one of the core themes in the agenda of any government as well as of corporations. For manufacturers, sustainability is becoming an inevitable element in promoting one’s sales and market position. Businesses must now find ways to reconcile economic growth with environmental protection and social responsibility – balancing people, planet and profit.

Nonwovens offer manufacturers a number of advantages. As Dr. Behnam Pourdeyhimi pointed out in his comprehensive report published on www.textileworld.com, the nonwoven industry has created an ecosystem that is built on automation, reducing the dependence on low cost labour — hence, the industry has not had to set up manufacturing facilities in low-labour cost regions in the world. Nonwovens are typically made and converted where they are sold, thereby minimising shipping costs.

As a product, a nonwoven itself is sustainable in terms of its low manufacturing time with a very quick production cycle, requiring a comparatively lower number of production processes to produce a product compared to competing products in the woven and knit categories. Still, there are many ways to make a nonwoven manufacturing line entirely green and sustainable. These include being less energy intensive, less water intensive, using energy and water from renewable resources, following the 3 Rs in the production cycle, and more.

Smithers, a multi-national provider of testing, consulting, information, and compliance services, has published The Future of Sustainable Nonwovens to 2022, analysing the sector trends and reflecting on sustainability in terms of both products and processes. For every nonwoven product, process, raw material and end use, the percentage of sustainable development is assessed and used to define the ‘sustainable nonwoven’ segment of that product, process or application.

Smithers points out that for sustainable nonwovens, drylaid, with spunlace and needlepunch favoured for sustainable nonwovens, leads all processes. Spunlaid is the second largest process used to process sustainable nonwovens; not because existing products are sustainable, but because this process is currently so large and so important in the nonwovens industry. The cost effectiveness and performance advantages make this technology very difficult to displace; it is more likely that solutions such as recycling, and biopolymer raw materials will be found to preserve its usefulness in sustainable nonwovens.

Airlaid is the third in usage for sustainable nonwovens. This lowenergy, low-waste process relies heavily on the most sustainable raw material (wood pulp) and is, on average, the most sustainable process. Unfortunately, not all products can be made with airlaid; lightweight (less than 45 g/m2) hydrophobic products are very difficult and expensive. Additionally, global airlaid capacity is limited and expansion slow.

Wetlaid has the smallest representation among nonwovens processes used for sustainable nonwovens. This is more a reflection of wetlaids’ small share of the overall nonwovens market than its lack of sustainability. With its ability and tendency to use large quantities of wood pulp as a raw material, and with hydrogen bonding providing at least some strength, the process is relatively sustainable. However, chemical, energy and water use are issues. Environmentally conscious solutions

Sustainability is key not only in terms of the production process, but, increasingly, in terms of use and disposal. In January 2018, the European Commission adopted the world’s first comprehensive Plastics Strategy. In May, the Commission released the “Single-Use Plastics: New Measures to Reduce Marine Litter” report, which proposed new rules to reduce the 10 most found plastic waste items on Europe’s beaches that account for 43 per cent of total marine litter. The ten items included non-woven wet wipes and sanitary items, pushing the sector to take a more pro-active stance, and coming up with different solution for wet wipes and sanitary items.

Today, many manufacturers offer alternatives for producing sustainable wipes and other products. For example, a major innovation was introduced by Austria-based Andritz AG. The high-performance Wetlace™ process for flushable, dispersible, and biodegradable wipes was showcased back in 2015. Similarly, Germany-based Trützschler Nonwovens GmbH, in collaboration with the Voith Group, Germany, offers solutions that can replace existing fossil-based polymeric fibre products with cellulose and other bio-based polymers such as polylactic acid (PLA) to overcome the EU ban.

Another German company, Kelheim Fibres, has introduced speciality fibre Danufil® QR that is tailor-made for use in disinfectant wipes. Due to their negative charge, standard viscose fibres bind up to 80 per cent of the so-called “quats” (quaternary ammonium

compounds), widely used disinfectant substances, hindering their actual purpose. The positively charged Danufil® QR resolves the issue by reducing this undesired effect to less than 10 per cent. Finally, disinfectant wipes can benefit from properties like softness or excellent fluid handling, which make viscose fibres a sought-after raw material for other hygiene, medical or food applications. With this product, the Bavarian manufacturer has won the World of Wipes Innovation Award.

Nick Carter, director of Market Business Intelligence and Intellectual Property at Avgol, global hygiene market leader with the most comprehensive range of ultra-lightweight spun-melt nonwoven fabrics, explains the drivers behind sustainability in the market, the increased need for sustainable and eco-conscious practices and how Avgol is putting sustainability at the forefront, supported by its Forward Innovative Thinking (‘FIT’) strategy.

“Nonwovens is an indispensable sector of textiles, producing a variety of invaluable products, many of which are disposable, that are vital to consumers’ daily lives. As a result of increased consumer awareness, and some concern about the impact of disposable products, sustainability in the nonwovens industry is now paramount. Product developers are now looking to create the effective, environmentally conscious solutions demanded by the market.”

“With the global consumption of sustainable nonwovens predicted to rise significantly, this is clearly a high-growth area representing the potential for significant business benefits of adapting sustainable practices.”

“We are developing lightweight, high-performance solutions, such as the recently launched beneFIT Control. We not only bring our customers added value with leading-edge solutions but also deliver sustainability benefits when it comes to product shipping. Our revolutionary lightweight fabrics offer the potential for more packable diapers, adult incontinence and feminine hygiene products, reducing packing requirements, improving logistics and improving the product’s overall carbon footprint as more can be packed in each shipment,” he affirms.

Recyclable and biodegradable

As the consumption of short-life nonwoven products increases, the burden on waste disposal also rises. As a result, there is an increasing effort to design and develop biodegradable nonwovens, with research and development efforts from both academia and industry.

Several new biodegradable polymers such as polylactic acid (PLA) and Biomax have helped the industry to produce larger amounts of biodegradable nonwovens. PLA, a repeating unit of lactic acid, is a polymer from the group of aliphatic polyesters. One of its most important characteristics is that it is a biodegradable and compostable thermoplastic polymer produced from starch-rich vegetable sources such as corn, sugar cane and wheat.

In addition, the use of natural fibres in nonwoven products is also increasing. There is a continuing effort to develop new ways to produce biodegradable nonwoven materials through the combination of natural fibres and other biodegradable resins or fibres; these research and development activities are helping these environmentally friendly fabrics to become affordable materials for many consumer products.

Numerous manufacturers have addressed the issue. For example, Austrian Lenzing has pioneered a new technology platform, Lenzing Web Technology, with a focus on sustainable nonwoven products that will help open up new market opportunities. Following an investment of EUR 26 million and several years of R&D, Lenzing has commissioned a pilot facility located at its headquarters in Austria.

With the Lenzing Web Technology, absorbent nonwoven fabrics with a botanic origin will be manufactured using an environmentally responsible production process. The nonwoven fabrics produced in 15gsm to 80gsm basis weights with a wide range of surface textures and drapeability properties will also be certified biodegradable, clean and safe, the company explains.

“While the nonwoven segment currently represents 30 per cent of our core business, we are committed to driving stronger growth through more active involvement in innovations across the value chain. Lenzing Web Technology is a key milestone that embodies our focus on specialty products under our corporate strategy sCore TEN,” said Stefan Doboczky, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of the Lenzing Group.

Lenzing Web Technology will serve as a platform technology for a wide range of future products for the nonwoven industry. The flexibility of the technology and the possible integration with other nonwoven and textile technologies will enable the development of a wide range of composite structures for highly engineered enduse applications.

“Given that the nonwoven fabric market is expected to reach close to USD 35 billion in size in 2022, with a staggering compound annual growth rate of 7.5 per cent per year over that period, it is crucial to support eco-responsible development of the nonwoven industry by using sustainable raw materials,” said Wolfgang Plasser, Vice President of Global Business Management Nonwovens at Lenzing.

“Consumers have become more aware of the negative impact of plastics in waterways and marine ecosystems. It is therefore incumbent upon the disposable products industry to step up and address such concerns. We envision that our new Lenzing Web Technology will enable the value chain to create more innovative applications out of natural, biodegradable cellulose materials.”

Green developments

In the automotive industry, many producers of nonwovens are growing their line-ups of innovations in order to cater to the growing electric vehicle market. Market trends such as “green” mobility and autonomous driving are also providing growth opportunities for nonwovens producers, according to Gerhard Klier, sales director Technical Products at Sandler, the leading nonwovens manufacturer based in Germany. “Lightweight, yet highly functional components continue to be in high demand,” he says. “At the same time, these new mobility concepts entail new requirements on the utilised materials. For example, the noise level in electric cars is different to that of cars with combustion engines. Therefore, new materials are needed. All of this creates opportunities for further development of our products and innovation.”

Manufacturers taking the lead in sustainable products include Switzerland-based Autoneum, the global market leader in acoustics and thermal management solutions for the automotive industry.

The company offers an optimised product portfolio for the electric vehicles of existing and new car manufacturers with innovative technologies such as Tune-It for carpet systems and Hybrid-Acoustics ECO+ for inner dashes and floor insulators. Tune-It is based on an innovative fibre combination in the carpet backing with which, for the first time, sound insulation and absorption can be tuned to the specific needs and geometry of the passenger cabin across the entire surface of the carpet.

The environmental footprint of this carpet technology that consists of 100 per cent PET is also reflected in the fact that Tune-It based components are fully recyclable. Compared to conventional carpet moulding, where non-recyclable production waste can reach a share of 30 per cent, off-cuts produced during the manufacture of Tune-It can be processed into pellets and completely returned into the carpet manufacturing process in the form of fibres.

In his analysis, Dr. Pourdeyhimi argues that in the future, there will be much more significant focus on the use of biopolymers such as PLA, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), and their blends, and when possible, cellulose fibres. “It’s likely that a generation of new products will replace the existing state-of-theart. One key is that these new materials must also be economically sustainable — today, the industry has many sustainable solutions that are not yet sustainable economically and that will remain a challenge unless regulations and taxation outweigh the material costs. In the more niche markets, these new bio-friendly products will appear first, as was seen with the PLA-based coffee and tea filters and single-use coffee pods.”

Game-changing innovations

Both leading nonwovens associations, EDANA and INDA, regularly publish the latest innovations and pioneering achievements in the sector and promote its further development by means of various events and presentations.

For example, game-changing products using nonwovens and engineered materials in a creative, novel and technically sophisticated approach will be presented by the three finalists of INDA’s 2019 prestigious Hygienix Innovation Award at the fifth edition of Hygienix — the premier event devoted to the latest in sustainable technologies, emerging markets, converting challenges, product and technical innovations, and market trends in the absorbent hygiene and personal care industry, taking place in November in Houston.

The three finalists for this most recent Innovation Award, representing examples of their latest developments, selected by INDA’s Technical Advisory Board of technical professionals from member companies from over twenty contenders, were:

Regalite™ UltraPure from Eastman Chemical: a new innovative hydrocarbon resin with low odour, low VOC properties, and low trace chemicals. This new product gives formulators the freedom to formulate with SBS, SIS or APO while getting the lowest odour and trace chemicals content for every hot-melt chemistry used, and SBS/partially hydrogenated resin hot-melt chemistry.

SMS Bico Fabric from Fitesa: a cutting-edge PE/PP spunbond and PE meltblown nonwoven imparting the softness of PE and the strength of PP for hygiene applications in a SMS construction. The innovative fabric offers drapeability and liquid barrier properties as a transformative solution for the hygiene markets.

The FEUR System by Vemarei: a unique faecal incontinence protection system features a discreet innovative pouch and pull cord design that is easy to remove after a bowel movement, providing continued cleanliness to the wearer. The FEUR System’s interior pad core is made from a highly absorbent nonwoven placed between two outer nonwoven layers welded together to create a channel for a pull cord that the wearer can pull at first sign of a bowel movement, thus creating an absorbent pouch container.

The innovations reflect a growing demand for nonwovens across all industries. Both EDANA and INDA forecast strong market demand for nonwovens materials through the next five years, as published in their Worldwide Outlook for the Nonwovens Industry, 2018-2023.

“The worldwide nonwovens industry’s prospects are excellent, and it remains an exciting industry in which to be involved,” said the report’s co-authors Jacques Prigneaux, Market Analysis and Economic Affairs Director at EDANA. Brad Kalil, Director of Market Intelligence and Economic Affairs at INDA added: “The future of nonwovens promises to be interesting and potentially very rewarding.” n