PLMA Show: Amsterdam 21st to 23rd May 2007

Introduction

The Amsterdam PLMA Show continues to be one of the best value-for-money exhibitions for any European involved with nonwovens for retail because unlike other nonwoven exhibitions, it is well attended by retailers. Admittedly, taken as a whole, it is very much biased towards food products, but the non-food halls attract a wide range of exhibitors, and many stands display products using nonwovens that are never seen at INDEX, IDEA or ANEX. You can see most of them easily in a day, but it can be rewarding to go round a second time in the last afternoon, because by then the exhibitors know exactly what the retail buyers are looking for.

This year most exhibitors said the retailers at the show were “going crazy” for products with supportable sustainable or environmental claims. The “Natural” theme was more evident than ever before and wipes producers (wet and dry) were cashing in with new “Biodegradable”, “Organic”, “Eco-Cert”, “Fair Trade” and similar labelling.

Two new diapers (from Valor/Mabe and Arquest) featured “more sustainable” claims based on relatively minor increases in biodegradable materials including PLA spunbond. Flushable materials were less popular, some arguing that their development was being held up by the continuing lack of a suitable test method, others that flushability was emerging as only relevant to wet toilet tissue and toilet wipes. Kimberly-Clark, Tyco and SCA who had a major presence at previous Amsterdam shows, did not take part this time.

Numerous cleaning mitts and gloves, both knitted and nonwoven, were on display, including microwavable bathing gloves based on heavily embossed hydroentangled fabric and intended for patient care in hospitals and nursing homes. Opinions differed on whether the new pulp/spunbond wipe substrates were going to be soft enough to replace the carded viscose-containing products but most agreed its success will depend on being sufficiently cheaper and more available than the current HE viscose staple products.

Unlike the traditional nonwoven exhibitions, PLMA stand personnel are rarely nonwoven experts, and could not always describe the nonwovens used, so in the following summary of conversations, some speculation will be evident.

Taken Alphabetically…

Albaad/FHW ( Israel )…

…were displaying both insect repellent wipes, and insect-bite soothing wipes the latter presumably for use when the former ran out. Also newly available on this stand: wet cosmetic pads, barbecue-cleaning wipes, self-tanning wipes, tie-cleaning wipes and shoe-cleaning wipes. Most were carded/hydroentangled products.

Arquest ( UK )…

…were featuring an eco-friendly diaper, the only change from standard diapers being the PLA backsheet. They said Tesco was demanding a change to more sustainable, eco-friendly products and this was the first and easiest move they could make. Progressive moves to increase the percentage of sustainable materials in the disposable diaper formulation would inevitably follow, and some consumers were expressing the hope that diapers would achieve full sustainability, biodegradability, and even flushability in the next 5 to 10 years.

CIP4 ( Italy )…

…were showing “Bio-Spunlace” wipes said to be flushable and biodegradable being made from 100% viscose - probably flat section, seeming somewhat bulkier for their basis weight than normal viscose. Compared with wet-laid and airlaid flushables, this nonwoven had the advantage of being binder-free. Binder-containing products were said to be finding it hard to get eco-certification.

Codi ( Holland ) …

…were showing their usual comprehensive range of wet wipes including a new fabric softner wet wipe for use in tumble driers. Their “Bio-Care” range of products was based on viscose and woodpulp, both made from certified forest wood. As this certification proved rather restrictive, non-certified wood products were used in the standard range. Codi divided their family of Bio products into “Lakes” and “Mountains”. “Lakes” were made from hydroentangled viscose, PLA and cotton, organic cotton versions being considered. The “Mountains” range contained woodpulp in blend with viscose and/or cotton and were generally hydro-embossed as well as entangled.

Tencel was used, but despite its environmental credentials, it's presence remained undeclared in marketing and labelling. J W Suominen, owners of Codi and makers of the nonwovens, regarded Tencel as just another type of viscose and used the two fibres interchangeably depending on price and availability. JWS still make thermal-bonded nonwovens, but here they concentrate on the creative development of niches, using polypropylene in blend with viscose and cotton. Asked if JWS was likely to move into spunbond/pulp to get away from the over-competitive card/HE route to wipes, a spokesperson said not yet. Spunbond/HE processes with or without pulp were expensive and were not yet proven, and it seemed compromises on softness (compared with pulp-free products) were still necessary. Maybe the level of hydroentanglement needed to get the softness right removed too much pulp and gave filtration problems.

Dr Schumacher ( Germany )…

…had an Ahlstrom-type rotating tube flushability tester rotating continuously on the stand, containing water and an incompletely dispersed wipe. This was intended to promote their new “Bio-Spunlace” wipes which were biodegradable and flushable by virtue of rapid dispersibility. The target market was “moist hygiene paper for toddlers”, baby-wipes and “luxury moist toilet paper”

Dynamic Wipe Industries ( Israel )…

…were featuring their Simply Organic natural biodegradable range of wipes. These were available as baby-wipes with chamomile, aloe and calendula extracts, as eye-make up remover wipes and as Beauty wipes for normal skin (with cucumber and calendula extracts), for sensitive skin (with aloe and chamomile) and for mature skin (with organic grape seed extract). They also displayed Kimberly-Clark's “Sammy” impregnated wash mitts for kids alongside “Watch Me”, their own version apparently made of through-air bonded high loft nonwovens. Their adult-size 2-sided mitts with a PE film liner were hydroentangled dry-laid, one face being overprinted with an abrasive latex. It was unclear whether these were positioned for human or pet cleaning.

Flash bv ( Holland )…

…were displaying a full range of disposables including what looked like simple rectangles of a coverstock-weight thermal-bonded PP staple as impregnated dust wipes for attaching to a Swiffer®-like mop. The impregnant could not be perceived. They also had a roll-wipe dispenser for what looked like a polyester/cotton needlepunched nonwoven at about 100 gsm. This tough fabric was perforated to allow a strong man to tear squares from the roll.

Groupe Lemoine ( France )

…had none on display, but claimed to be developing organic cotton disposables under pressure from the retailers. They would be 50% more expensive than normal production and would sell to the wealthy who cared for the planet. If the price could be reduced to a 10% premium these could have mass-market appeal, but then there would not be enough organic cotton to make the required volume.

Hydra (France)…

…were promoting “Bo-Coton” pads and wipes said to use a bio-equitable, organic, fair-trade, long-fibre, new (as opposed to reclaimed), peroxide-bleached cotton from South Africa . The packaging was also organic, biodegradable and chemical-free. These were launched a year ago and were now selling at a premium in French supermarkets, Leclerc, System U, Casino being mentioned, and also in Morrisons in the UK , and in Austria . The products were slightly yellower than the non-organic varieties, and there were specks of leaf or seed visible. This material was reminiscent of the old J&J ( South Africa ) nonwoven made by hydroentangling raw cotton and then bleaching the fabric – the logic being that raw cotton was very easy to card and entangle compared with bleached cotton.

They were also promoting a large version of an organic make-up removal pad as a baby wipe intended for use on sensitive skins where lotions caused problems. The three-layer product had HE cotton skins pressure bonded through a loose cotton wadding core.

Innovate ( Holland )

Melchior van Haren (Managing Director) described their three new offerings at this show:

• “Fast and Fresh” microwavable bathing mitts for patient care in nursing homes and hospitals. These are being sold to start with into the US market under their own AMcare label, where they are cheaper than the other microwavable bathing towels. The glove is preferred by nurses, and while there are currently eight in a pack to clean the whole body, Innovate feel a 4-pack would be acceptable to do the same job because each side of the mitt can be used separately. The fabric is a very strong heavyweight hydroentangled viscose/PET blend with a pronounced “knobbly” hydro-embossed surface which helps cleaning. The 2 halves of the mit are sewn together.

• Computer screen wet-wipes made for Rogge who market the wipes with approval from the main computer makers

• Nanotec surface coatings, one of which was designed to coat windscreen glass with a hydrophobic layer which makes it easier to wipe and easier to see through at night. This is applied by a microfibre cloth. Single sachets are available now, and a multipack is being developed.

They were also developing a new facial treatment mask based on a spunbond/pulp hydroentangled fabric which was quite attractive. Mr van Haren was aware that the substrate had probably been made for baby wipes and commented that the baby-wipes market was now impossible to make money in. These wipes were certainly slightly harsher than the non-pulp versions, but he felt the consumers going for the cheaper products would not worry about this. Innovate claim to have developed the first embossed baby-wipe for Aldi and now everyone wants embossed products.

Intertex SRL ( Italy )…

…attracted attention with their “100% Natural Viscose” display on what turned out to be a nicely made and finished mitt of knitted heavy-denier viscose continuous filament yarn. This was a coarse yarn made of fine filaments very like a tyre-reinforcement yarn. The mitt was made by folding and stitching a single piece of knit. It was said to be brilliant for cleaning shiny surfaces such as glass.

Their “Supermicrofibre dust eating glove” was knitted from a 100% nylon microfibre texturised chenille yarn the whole being elasticised for a “one size fits all” claim. They appeared to be seamfree and knitted in one piece. A rectangular pad of the same material was “suitable for use with all types of floor polishers”.

The “Spongecloth for absorbing and deep cleaning” appeared to be a double-jersey knit of an untexturised version of the polyamide microfibre yarn on one face (White) and a 50/50 cotton/acrylic yarn on the other (Yellow). This material was also produced as a floor cloth (“pannobello”) with a chequerboard pattern of the absorbent/non-absorbent yarns on each face.

These were very nice products just waiting to be reproduced at a lower price in a real nonwoven.

Nice Pak ( UK )

…said the supermarkets were going crazy for anything with environmental/fair-trade/organic/renewable/sustainable/biodegradable claims. The problem was that they also needed the claims to be certified by some reliable independent body. Certified organic cotton for instance is hardly available for nonwovens: maybe what little there is is all going into textiles. This time the demand for eco-friendly materials was real. It was not a fad. The consumers are now prepared to pay, and these environment-related themes will drive the nonwovens industry for decades. In Nice-Pak's view, the spunbond/pulp hydroentangled wipes now emerging were comparable to the viscose/PP HE baby-wipes they were designed to replace and it would be up to the consumers to decide which was better value.

Ningbo Sanbang Home Products Co Ltd ( China )…

…is producing polyester microfibre and showed wipes made from these fibres by a development partner. Their new microfibre yarn plant will start up later this year and produce 20,000 tonnes of a variety of unique microfibre products. The “Unic Sani-Pro” range of cleaning cloths were mainly woven and knitted yarns including chenilles, but they also promoted nonwovens in the form of chamois substitutes, microfibre spunlace and textured, electrostatic disposable dusters with various patterns and apertures. A window cleaning system appeared to be a lightweight derivative of Wet-Jet Swiffer®. It had a water tank and spray which could be activated from the end of a telescopic handle, and one face was fitted with a microfibre pad for washing the glass, the other having a rubber squeegee for scraping the glass dry. Also of interest:

• a kiddies cleaning kit comprising apron, kneepads, cleaning mitts, cleaning slippers (removable microfibre soles) and a cleaning cloth.

• A toilet cleaning system with impregnated nonwoven pad which was gripped in a plastic handle and could be ejected and flushed after use.

Orlandi ( Italy )

… having recently sold their nonwovens production to Ahlstrom had a large stand featuring converted products only. Spunlace nonwovens had been slit and twisted into yarns to make mop-heads and had also been woven into bulky 650 gsm fabric for wipes.

Rostam ( Israel )…

…was celebrating 25 years in business and the fact that they were now the leading private label tampon producer supplying the US market. They make the Wal-Mart tampons and have done for 7 years despite their production plant being in Israel . They have a US warehouse which, along with tampons in transit from Israel , allows 12 weeks of inventory in or on the way to the USA . They import the cotton from the USA and claim it's simply the low labour costs in Israel that give them the edge over US-based tampon-makers. They displayed open- and round-ended cardboard applicators (biodegradable, in biodegradable wrapper), pearlised plastic applicators in standard and compact versions, and 8-groove digital tampons.

Rockline ( UK )…

…expressed the view that flushable wipes would be no more than a niche outside kids wet-toilet tissue and toilet cleaning wipes. However they had made such flushable wipes from Kelheim's flat viscose fibre which passed one of the tests currently in use. With regard to spunbond/pulp HE wipes, they thought these were good when a thick wipe was needed, but there were aesthetic issues related to the thinner varieties. Viscose-based HE wipes were getting too expensive so maybe some compromise on softness would be acceptable in a cheaper construction.

Reach Global Industries ( Holland )…

…was showing the “Travel John” portable unisex urinal. This was simply an opaque polythene bag containing a bag of superabsorbent granules, said to be “Liqsorb” biodegradable SAP, with a funnel at the top. They claimed the bag, which looked just like a spunbond PP topsheet, was biodegradable and contained cotton. Maybe it was a PLA spunbond. Nevertheless the product was attracting attention and was selling in supermarkets. The pack indicated it had been designed and engineered in the USA .

Sandler ( Germany )…

…was showing a hydroentangled Viloft/PLA (70/30) flushable fabric, but said the flushables development was held up by the lack of a suitable test method. They also showed a 100% bamboo HE nonwoven which they agreed could be made from viscose obtained from a supplier who used bamboo woodpulp.

The wet wipe business was still difficult, and getting more so as viscose became expensive and scarce. Pulp could not be used to replace viscose without most wipes substrate lines having a major refit. Even adding tissue, or air-laid webs would give filtration and logistical problems. Furthermore it was not yet clear in the marketplace that the way forward in wipes involved using more pulp.

Sisma Spa ( Italy )…

…was promoting “Bio-cotton”, a new range of organic disposable wipes which sold at a 20% premium over their standard cotton range. This was a 1 day a month production for them, and they had to clean the machines thoroughly before feeding the organic cotton. One Italian supermarket chain was buying it, but they were getting interest from Northern Europe and the USA . The high price would prevent it from growing much.

Tosama ( Slovenia )…

…showed both digital and compact applicator tampons. The “Viriana” digital tampons featured a “Feel-Satin” surface coating described as a thin fibre layer (presumably the overwrap). The “system Compac” applicator tampons were described as digital tampons in a plastic applicator.

Valor Brands ( Spain ) & P I Mabe ( Mexico )…

…presented a new eco-friendly disposable “Bio-Baby” diaper, the eco-friendly claim being based on this diaper having reduced fossil-fuel content compared with conventional diapers. How so? By replacing 20% of the SAP with a corn-starch based superabsorbent, and by using a PLA film backsheet covered with a PLA nonwoven. They also claimed the topsheet – a fairly normal-looking and feeling spunbond – contained cotton. Overall the product was said to contain over 50% of sustainable materials and would biodegrade in 2 years.

EDANA Middle East Symposium Dubai , United Arab Emirates : 20-21 st Feb 2007

Introduction

300 delegates registered for this, the first EDANA conference in the Middle East , and its obvious success suggests it will become a regular feature of the nonwoven year. Introducing the session, Pierre Wiertz EDANA's General Manager said the conference was intended to provide a focus to promote and support the development of nonwovens in the Middle East , a region he expected to become the fastest growing nonwoven production region. United Arab Emirates for example represented a fruitful fusion between Eastern and Western cultures: business is relatively easy, with easy financing and European standards of respect for intellectual property.

The MENA Region

Mahdy Katbe of Unicharm Gulf Hygienic Industries ( Saudi Arabia ) characterised MENA as the crescent of 17 countries stretching from Morocco to Iraq including Sudan and the Arabian peninsula (GCC), but excluding Israel . Here lived 275 million people producing 6 million babies every year, a birth rate of 21.8 per 1000 compared with 10.2 per 1000 in the US , EU and Japan combined. Saudi Arabia has a population of 27 million including 5.6 million expatriates. 45% of the population is under 15. It controls 21% of the known oil reserves and at $50/barrel these known reserves will yield $38.5 trillion to OPEC, $24 trillion to the GCC States, of which Saudi Arabia will get $13 trillion. This oil boom will translate into massive investment ( e.g. mega-infrastructure projects) and a personal spending boom. The prospects for personal hygiene products, geotextiles, and their raw materials are unparalleled.

Nonwovens in Infrastructure Projects in Dubai

Jan Helden of Fibertex ( Denmark ) claimed their experience in large scale coastal protection projects in Denmark , and the construction of Hong Kong airport, had positioned them well to take advantage of major coastline extensions now occurring in Dubai . Design of a geosynthetic had to take account of water depth, wave height, the type of rocks to be dropped onto it, and the height from which they were dropped. They had to resist puncture, be extensible enough to conform to irregular seabeds and be sufficiently porous to retain fines while allowing the free flow of water. Rocks could weigh up to 3 tonnes each in areas where wave heights of 3 metres were normal. One of these rocks dropped from a height of 4 metres required a geotextile with a 12,000 newton puncture resistance. The Jumeirah Palm, commenced in 2001, is protected by a 12 km breakwater 200 metres wide and comprises 17 “fronds” each 2 km long and 75 metres wide. Geotextiles (Fibertex F-650M) were used in the breakwater to separate the rock base from the sand “beach”. They were also used in road construction on each of the fronds (Fibertex F-2B UV – 140 gsm) , for landscaping interchanges (Fibertex F-3S – 230 gsm) and for drainage and storm water sewers (Fibertex F-300 – 180gsm). Another development commenced in 2003, the Jebel Ali Palm Island , is 50% larger than the Jumeirah Palm.

Fibertex G-100 UV is used in flat roofs in Dubai to separate the drainage layer (gravel) from the insulation and the waterproof membrane and protects against abrasion and perforation.

Controlled Permeability Formwork uses Fibertex Formtex® CPF liner between the wet concrete and the mould to allow surplus water and any trapped air to escape from the vertical surfaces of the concrete. This was specified for all exposed concrete surfaces in Dubai as it doubles the life of the concrete in aggressive environments (e.g. hot and salty air).

Turkish Nonwovens Market

Yasemin Buyukeren of Hayat Temizlik Saglik Urunleri SA ( Turkey ) reviewed the development of the Turkish nonwovens industry and provided a comprehensive breakdown of nonwovens usage:

• Turkey 's first nonwoven line made air-laid latex bonded nonwovens for automotive use – presumably long-fibre airlay using something like a Rando-Webber.

• Card-crosslappers fed needlepunchers on the lines installed during the 80's and 90's

• Thermal bonded production was introduced during the '90's

• Spunlace, spunbond and meltblown lines were installed during the late '90's commencing with Mogul. Ritas and Kurt Kumas installed pure spunbond.

• Hassan Group's thermobond line (2003) is still the highest capacity card line in the world.

• Gulsan commenced SMS production in 2004 and added a second spunbond line in 2005, followed by two meltblown lines.

• Bayteks ( Gaziantep ) started a proprietary technology spunbond line in May 2006

• Salteks in Istanbul moved into spunlace in 2001. AS Nonwovens (Akinal) followed, with new investment in 2005 for a second bigger line.

• Ribatek Tekstil invested in a cross-lay spunlace line in 2005 which was commercialised a few months ago.

• Estimated nonwoven capacity in Turkey is now 400,000 tonnes, up from 300,000 in 2005 and 150,000 in 2003.

• The leading producers in 2006 were:

• Hassan Group with 39,000 tonnes of thermal, latex and needled card webs for coverstock, backsheet, wipes, furnishings and geotextiles.

• Gulsan with 29,000 tonnes of SSS and SMMS for hygiene components.

• Milkay with 25,000 tonnes of needlefelts for furnishings and civil engineering.

• Mogul with 21,000 tonnes of spunbond and meltblow for filters, medical and home furnishings

• Salteks with 17,000 tonnes of carded thermalbond and meltblow for wipes and numerous durable applications.

• The other major producers were listed as AS Nonwoven, Vateks, Bayteks, Kurt Kumas, Akelyaf, Elsan, Ribatek and Almina.

• 31% of Turkish nonwoven production goes into garments, 19% to hygiene, 15% into automotive and 11% into geotextiles.

• 21,000 tonnes is consumed in baby diapers , and a further 12,000 tonnes in wipes. This is insufficient for the Turkish hygiene market which imports about 25% of its needs, mainly from Belgium , Germany and Finland .

• Current penetration of disposables in Turkish diapering is 55%. There are 3.7 million babies, this figure growing at 2% per year.

• The leading diaper producers are P&G with ”Prima”, Hayat with ”Molfix” and ”Bebem”, Astel (Ontex) with ”Canbebe” and Ovisan Kimberly with ”Huggies” and ”Pedo”.

• 21 million women use femcare products. 1.2 billion pads (48% penetration) and 380 million pantyliners (7.5% penetration) are sold annually. The leading producers are P&G (”Orkid” pads, ”Alldays” and ”Discreet” pantyliners.) Hayat (”Molyped” and ”Joly”) and Astel (Ontex - ”Canleydi”)

• Tampons and adult incontinence products are almost non-existent in Turkey at present.

• Wet wipe penetration was said to be 30-40% with the baby wipe sector declining and personal care wipes rising.

Gown and Drape Fabrics

Samir Nassif of Saudi Arabian Advanced Fabrics ( Saudi Arabia ) replaced Ian Disley to give a paper prepared jointly with Ahlstrom on nonwovens in operating theatres. Nonwovens are technically superior to woven textiles which don't meet the latest microbial penetration standards, ie. European Norm 13795 and Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation PB70:2003. They are virtually lint free and because they are single-use their sterility and barrier properties are consistently high. Within nonwovens, SMS with its meltblown microfiber layer gives a better barrier performance than either hydroentangled pulp/PET or pure spunbond. Nevertheless, while the US now uses mainly SMS in theatres, Europe is mainly on hydroentangled and the Middle East is still 85-90% wovens. Conversion of this to SMS is the motivating opportunity behind the SAAF investment.

AAMI PB70:2003 has 4 levels of barrier performance for minimal, low, moderate and high levels of exposure to risk. For Level 1 – minimal risk, wet laid or spunlace nonwovens are adequate. At Level 2 - low risk, spunlace or lightweight SMS are acceptable. For Level 3 – moderate risk, medium to heavyweight SMS is needed e.g. SAAF's Medalon™, and for Level 4 – high risk, nonwoven/film composites or Ahlstrom's Breathable Viral Barrier are required. SAAF's Medalon™ Plus would also work.

In passing, Mr Nassif noted that globally, PP is the lowest cost polymer ($1.3/Kg) growing at 5-6% pa through 2008. 16% of the polymer produced will be used in nonwovens. Disposable fabrics are growing at the same rate and sales will reach $13.3 billion in 2007. The Middle East economies are booming (5.4% GDP Growth in 2006) and the demographics are right for increased use of disposables.

Nonwovens in Personal Protection

Amr El-Moniem of Dupont Nonwovens ( Egypt ) promoted the Dupont range of protective clothing and positioned it against the 3 classes of required protection:

• minor being for instance foul weather clothing

• moderate being high visibility clothing.

• major, and in this category suits were classed in 6 different categories, from 1 (gas tight) to 6 (limited protection).

He also ran through the test methods used to categorise them. His paper was not on the CD ROM.

Nonwovens and Polyester: The Indian Perspective

Gunjan Sharma of Reliance ( India ) an industrial company with sales of $20billion and the world's largest producer of polyester with a 2 million tonne capacity, presented an Indian fiber-makers view of nonwovens. Global nonwovens were growing at 7% per annum and their share of global fiber consumption would increase from 8% now to 15% by 2012. By comparision conventional textiles were growing at 3%. Half of world nonwoven production is now made in 5 countries, USA (20%), Japan (8.5%), Germany (7%), Canada (7%) and Italy (6.2%), but most of the growth is in Asia-Pacific (15% p.a.), the Middle East (12% p.a.), and Latin America (7.5% p.a.).

Describing India as the land of opportunities, Mr Sharma noted that of the 1 billion population, 310 million were middle class, there were 120 million working in the cities, and 150 million teenagers. GDP was growing at 8% p.a., but the per-capita use of fibers was only 40% of the global average (and about 10% of the USA 's). Polyester was mainly used in apparel (93%) compared with a world average of 52% and a Chinese apparel usage of 60%. In the pyramid of human needs, nonwovens were non-essentials, but as the wealth of the nation increased, food, clothing and housing needs would soon be met, and at the next level (hygiene, healthcare and transport) nonwovens would be essential. At present, nonwoven penetration of these sectors was negligible: where the USA spent $12.4 billion (2004) on personal hygiene nonwovens, India spent $3.3 million.

The diaper opportunity was gigantic, estimated at 93 billion per year, there being more babies of diapering age in India than China . P&G, K-C and J&J were the only players and were currently importing economy diapers from SE Asia . Wipes sales in India were only $2 million. Of the 200,000 tonne per year geotextile market, the USA had 55% and China 20%. India only had 1% and this was set to increase dramatically as infrastructure improvement gathered pace. Here polyester was the key fiber and India had the complete polyester production chain in place (excluding nonwovens) unlike China which had to import oil.

So, Reliance saw an opportunity of extending their totally vertical polyester production to include nonwovens as well as textiles. They have 200 R&D staff with a dedicated nonwovens R&D team, and unlike China have respect for intellectual property. They intend to cater for all nonwoven requirements in India , and are studying a move into polyester spunbonds. The Indian government looks prepared to support the development of a nonwovens industry, especially for technical, industrial and agricultural applications.

Mr Sharma didn't say it, but he certainly left the impression that Reliance is looking for partners to help open up the nonwoven sector. Asked specifically about the plan to move into polyester spunbond and converted products production he said this had been studied but no decision had been taken. Asked whether they would also produce polypropylene spunbond in future, they do produce the polymer but have no plans to move into PP nonwovens.

Indian Market for wipes and medical

Shishir Jaipuria of Ginni Filaments ( India ) also described India as a land of unique opportunities, being the world's 4 th largest economy ($3.7 trillion GDP) with the world's second fastest GDP growth rate (8.9%). By 2011 the population will be 1.2 billion, growing at 1.4% per year with 50% being in the middle class. 36% were in the high income group and now demanding premium quality hygiene products. Organised retailing (super- and hyper-markets and Metros) is booming with a $25 billion investment expected to occur over the next 5 years taking its share from 3% to 14%, and its turnover to $427 billion.

Textile industry output is set to grow from $53 bn to £85 bn between 2006 and 2010 and the governments Technology Upgrade Fund is improving the investment climate. Technical Textiles worth $7 bn will be used in India in 2007-08, 5% of these being medical. Disposable wipes are now a $4.5 million market, the low penetration being due to the high price of imports, a lack of awareness of their benefits, and uncertain availability. The sector is however growing at 20% per annum, and Ginni's new hydroentanglement line, the first in India , is now starting up with this market in its sights.

Healthcare in India is a $17bn business and growing at 17% per year due to increasing middle-class spending and increasing medical tourism. Operations in India cost far less than in developed countries: they have half a million doctors and train 180,000 new ones every year. (”More doctors in India than patients in Saudi Arabia ”) Disposables have almost fully replaced woven protective clothing in wards, but in the operating rooms, woven drapes and gowns still predominate. Here standards need to be developed and suitable fabrics must be produced locally. Laundering is very cheap in India and the perfomance benefits of disposables needs to be quantified. Wound care, a $375m market growing at 15% per annum is mainly woven gauze and bandages. Nonwovens of the right quality remain to be produced. Here again the new Ginni Filaments spunlace line is expected to open up the market. It has a capacity of 12,000 tonnes, is capable of using polyester, viscose and cotton, 100% or in blends. The plant will also be equipped to laminate, coat, print and pack for consumer and hospital uses.

Asked about how the demand for medical barrier fabrics would be met Mr Jaipuia said that P&G and Ahlstrom were encouraging local production.

Superabsorbent Technology Update

Michael Keup of Degussa ( Germany ) delivered a SAP 101 in some detail before discussing the tricky problem of permeability-dependent absorption under pressure.

Permeability under load (PUL), saline flow conductivity (SFC) or gel bed permeability (GBP) were the usual methods of assessing permeability, but Mr Keup now favoured Time-Dependent Absorption against Pressure (TAAP). In essence this was a gravimetric absorbency test with SAP put directly on the porous plate and loaded with suitable weights. Uptake versus time over an hour gave the capacity under load and the acquisition rate, the latter being dependent on, but not a direct measure of, permeability.

In separate experiments, Degussa has shown that acquisition time increases dramatically as the concentration of high-retention SAP in blend with pulp rises above 50%. The fluid just wont penetrate the swollen SAP and improving the acquisition distribution layer doesn't help. In order to get acceptable times with 60-80% SAP, more permeability is required and this is achieved by further crosslinking of the skin of the SXM material. However permeability and capacity prove antagonistic, you can increase one but only at the expense of the other.

Asked about residual monomer levels in SAP, Mr Keup said that while acrylic acid might be harmful to mankind, no Degussa SAP shows any negative side effects due to the traces of this chemical left in the product. Acceptable limits of monomer were hard to define: 500ppm could well be OK and even 1000ppm might be acceptable. It was hard to say what a safe level of the monomer should be. How much SAP was now required? Global demand was 1.3 to 1.5 million tonnes, of which about 800,000 tonnes were used in diapers.

Testing Hygienic Absorbents.

Edgar Hermann of Hy-Tec Hygiene Technology GmbH ( Germany ) listed the priorities for diaper performance as expressed by 120 German mothers between 2006 and 2008(sic). They should be leak-free, fit well, be friendly to the skin, keep baby dry, and contain odour. Of less importance were lotions, colours or prints, and wetness indicators. Development targets were improved absorbency, lower leakage, and better fit, and the way forward involved thinner cores, stretchable side panels and better leg cuffs.

For femcare, where absorbency was more than adequate, improvements would arise from lateral leakage barriers, silky (less plastic) funnel-effect topsheets, anatomical shapes and improved odour control. Pantyliners would follow fashion and be co-ordinated with lingerie. Adult incontinence users wanted safe, discrete, comfortable, odour controlling products which were easy to put on and dispose of.

Hygiene product technical trends would favour ultra-thin (fluffless) cores, breathable backsheets, silky-soft topsheets, improved shapes, ecologically-sound materials, economical versions for emerging markets, and pre-formed cores.

The Dodot (Arbora/Ausonia) diaper design would challenge the Pampers design.

Medical Nonwovens

Krzystof Malowaniec of Paul Hartmann ( Germany ) pointed out that the medical nonwoven market was being squeezed by demands for cost reduction without any compromise on quality. There was therefore a need to redesign medical procedures to reduce personnel, capital employed, materials consumed and complexity, per patient. One result of this was the “Customised Procedure Tray” (CPT) which would reduce personnel costs by allowing the preparation of all the materials needed for an operation outside the hospital by specialist partners. These packs would reduce wastage and post-operative infections and lead to shorter hospitalisations and reduced material consumption.

But what about the ecological considerations from what would inevitably be an increased use of disposables? Mr Malowaniec thought the motto here should be “don't reuse, recycle”, and advocated a new waste treatment technology which separated out all organics, and after careful blending converted them to basic organic materials which could be reused as monomers or fuel. This was not anaerobic biodegradation yielding methane, but a chemical conversion yielding mainly propene and ethylene. So, the future of operating theatre fabrics would be single-use, nonwovens-based, procedure packs tailored to specific operations. These would, through recycling be ecologically sound and economical without compromising medical performance.

Asked about the Polypropylene-to-Propene process he advocated, Mr Malowaniec referred to waste-organic cracking technology used in Germany towards the end of World War 2 when the Luftwaffe could not get aircraft fuel. He felt that when the primary raw materials got too expensive, this route would be rediscovered.

Roofing Substrates

Bertrand Claude Weiter of Johns-Manville Sales ( Germany ) put the Middle Eastern roofing membrane market at 270 million square metres/annum, of which 22% is natural fiber and 78% synthetic or glass based. This compared with Europe's 1.9 billion m 2 market (35% natural and 65% synthetic or glass fibers); North America's 700 million m 2 (43% natural and 57% synthetic or glass) and Asia 's 1.1 billion m 2 market (46% natural and 54% synthetic or glass).

Traditional roofing felt was natural fiber (rag felt which rotted when wet) coated with bitumen. Bitumen coated wet-laid glass, developed in the ‘50's was brittle and easily punctured. Polyester nonwovens reinforced with a glass scrim, or laminated to an aluminium film were better. The polyester could be coated on both sides with bitumen and this could be protected on one side with PE film or coated with a sand or talc anti-block layer. Polyester spunbond was now specially designed for roofing and provided the best strength, tear, elongation, puncture and rot resistance. Exceptional dimensional stability could be achieved by incorporating glass yarns. The next generation would yield flame retardancy and even higher stability (0.05% shrinkage during 24 hours at 80 o C) by needlepunching a spunbond polyester into a glass fibre nonwoven.

Asked how staple polyester nonwovens compared with spunbond in roofing, Mr Weiter said they can be interchangeable if the staple version is heavy enough to match the strength of spunbond. In the USA , staple and spunbond share the market 50/50, while in Europe spunbond has a 60% share, due to its predominance in the north, staple being favoured in the south. The long term future of bitumen coating? Bitumen is the residue when petrochemicals are extracted from oil. It's price recently rose from $100 to $300 per tonne and there is now a risk that plastic membranes could take over.

Modern Management in the Middle East

Hatem Otoum of Specialised Industries Co. (Jordan) chose to steer clear of nonwovens to provide a summary of Geert Hofstede's thinking on work-related values. His four dimensions of national culture were:

• Individulalism/Collectivism
• Power-Distance index (there's a wide variation in power down the heirarchy when power-distance is high. Low power-distance means equality between managers and workers)
• Uncertainty Avoidance index (formal-inflexible organisations avoid uncertainty)
• Masculinity/Femininity (assertiveness versus concern for others)
• Latin American countries scored highest in Power-Distance, Scandinavia being at the low end of the scale. Arab countries were near the top. Greatest Uncertainty Avoidance was in Japan , France , Argentina and Spain , with Scandinavia being least. Arab countries were high on the list. Individulism was highest in Anglo-Saxon countries, lowest in Thailand and Indonesia . Arab countries were at the low end.

Masculinity was highest in Japan and lowest in Sweden , with Arab countries mid-range.

The combination of high Power-Distance and high Uncertainty Avoidance in Arab countries gives leaders virtually unlimited power and leads to rules and regulations which reinforce leadership and control. The low Individualism score suggest a collectivist culture where loyalty overrides other societal rules.

EDANA Outlook 2004 Personal Care Conference People

Rolf Altdorf - PGI Nonwovens and EDANA Chairman, opened this Monte Carlo meeting

Professor Dr Elgar Fleisch, Director of the Institute of Technology Management at the University of St Gallen (Switzerland) indicated how the next generation of computer chips would be capable of communicating wirelessly despite being less than 0.5mm square.

Prof Fleisch admitted the RFID tags could be counterfeited and chips which were harder to fake had to be developed. Viruses would always be a problem.

Krys Malowaniec of Hartmann after his talk on fully synthetic absorbent cores, with Prof Fleisch and Peter Meijer of Fiberweb.


Finn Johnsson, CEO of Mölnlycke Health Care AB catalogued the problems of keeping Europe competitive. Its population was living too well and had lost the desire to work and save money.


Peter Williams, P&G’s VP Product Supply CEEMEA reminded us that while his region (Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) had five times the population of North America, it had a fifth of the income, and suffered from more wars and natural disasters than other regions. So, why should P&G be putting so much effort in such a high risk and volatile area?


Helena Engquist (Consultant) said the ageing baby-boomers were creating a demand for lifestyle products which promised youthfulness, fitness and the ability to remain active into old-age.


Guy Goldstein (recently retired from Georgia Pacific and now a consultant) listed some major failures which succeeded when reintroduced years later. The Kroyer Process for dry papermaking, scrim reinforced tissue, wet-wipes and the P&G "Rely" tampon

World Fiber Trends

Lana Irish of Invista, the company formed from KoSa and Dupont’s Textiles and Interiors business, provided data to illustrate how future fiber requirements would be met.

World fiber consumption continued to rise...

the growth being driven by population growth and increasing use per capita...

The most populous regions use a fraction of the fiber of the developed economies...

so phenomenal growth can be expected as China and India move to Western levels of fiber consumption.

Polyester is now the most popular fiber in the world and massive expansion plans are underway in China.


For nonwovens, Ms Irish saw sheath/core bicomponent fiber technology aiding
the more efficient use of raw materials by using cores which would not alone
form fibers inside more valuable fiber forming sheaths. There was no
discussion on how oil shortages might affect the scenario.

Melt-blowing lyocell dopes

Ron Zhao the R&D Director of Biax Fiberfilm Corporation has developed a 15 inch wide melt-blowing head with 12 rows of holes giving 200 holes per inch compared with the 35 holes/inch of conventional heads.

Spinnerette Cross Section

Without a water spray the melt-blown cellulose is over self-bonded and over brittle

Spraying water onto the web improved matters...

...but spraying the filaments before they formed a web was better.

Best of all was to spray water from nozzles in the spinnerette itself, but the resulting full-scale meltblow head would be a complex piece of engineering with thousands of easily damaged "hollow needles" protruding from the face.

2005 Visionary Award Nominee: Oral-B Brush Ups

Peter Gladstone of Gillette (USA) argued that between toothbrushing (most effective/least convenient toothcare) and chewing gums (least effective/most convenient) there existed a gap which could be filled by a disposable cleaner worn on a finger.

The oral care opportunity to be filled by Brush-Ups

The cleaning side was a thermal-bonded bulky spunbond laminated to a thin waterproof spunbond. The bulky spunbond was thermally embossed* and impregnated with cleaner and said to remove 60% of the plaque c.f. a toothbrush. The elastic backing allowed the one size to fit snugly over any finger size.

Consumers used Brush-Ups when toothpaste and brush cleaning was impossible

90% said Brush Ups were easy to use "on-the-go"

Market research indicated it would be purchased in addition to current toothcare products and used mainly away from home.

Store Brands Evolve

Gail Zielinski of AC Nielsen has been mining the database to find out who is driving private label sales growth, discovering that upscale families are increasingly switching from brands. Consumers now trust private label quality and will buy even if the cost savings are not so great.

Private label nonwovens are a billion dollar business...

...but sales performance is worse than that of branded products

Private label nonwovens sell at an average discount of 21% over branded products...

...but far fewer households buy them c.f equivalent brands...

...and they buy them less often.

Asked if PL will continue to grow as the economy improves, Ms Zielinski thought it would because PL now sells for more reasons than just price.

Who does PL best? Aldi, Trader Joes, Costco.

Does the Nielsen data include Walmart? No. In diapers, PL needs to catch up with the brands to reverse the loss of share.

INDA Vision New Orleans 2005

Richard Jackson of the Centre for Strategic International Studies gave a stark warning: population ageing will wreck the economy of any nation that fails to
prepare for it.

Fertility in every developed country has fallen below the replacement rate

Life expectancy has been rising rapidly throughout the world

In many fast ageing countries the size of the working population will shrink dramatically

Public pension deficits threaten to devour the savings of the developed world

Retirement spending will leave little room for National Defense

In response to questions, Mr Jackson said that the 30-year demographics are accurate and certain. (If we doubled fertility rates tomorrow, it would be twenty years before the effect on the economy would be felt.) China’s demographics have a huge destabiliser built in: the unusually high ratio of boys to girls (1.17 overall, but 1.5 for second children) resulting from the population control policy. This will create a “daughter-in-law shortage” and hence a shortage of the traditional carers for the elderly.

Anex Conference and Exhibition - Tokyo - May 2006

Two simultaneous conference sessions overlapped almost totally with the exhibition and were somewhat remote from it, so it was difficult to do both justice.  A printed version of each paper was available at each conference room but only during the time of the presentation and, if Japanese, with only a short abstract in English.  The organisers moderated the sessions and in the interests of timekeeping did not allow questions from the audience.  Unusually for this event, there were no papers giving statistics covering the evolution of the Asian market since the last Anex.

Conference Papers

The papers attended are summarized below.  The Appendix provides speakers summaries, as provided by the Anex organizers, of those missed.

Keynotes

The opening session, Future Directions, had papers from the Japanese Ministry of Trade and Industry – Textiles Division, academia (paper and textile research institutes) and industry (Teijin and Kuraray) but without interpretation or preprints. 

The interpreted keynote session was given by Unicharm’s founder and Chairman, Mr Keiichiro Takahara, and was a personal view of the people-related issues involved in leading and  growing a successful business through 45 years with three prolonged periods of negative growth.

Inda/Tappi Nonwovens Meeting St Louis, September 2005

The main INDA-TAPPI conference was preceded by a 1 day Nonwoven Enhancements conference organized in conjunction with the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists. The main INTC conference comprised 3 simultaneous sessions and only those attended are reported. This was the largest and busiest nonwoven conference of recent years comprising 98 full presentations, 14 Poster presentations, 12 Supplier showcase presentations, 18 award presentations and a fashion show.

Millenium Hotel St Louis: Venue for INTC 2005

Rory Holmes, President of Inda (seated)

Nonwoven Production by region, 1994-2009 according to INDA

Nonwoven growth by region: 1994-2009 according to INDA

Nonwoven production by web-forming technology; 1994-2009 according to INDA