Spending review for 3M
3M is currently reviewing more than 80% of its supplier spending in China, India, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Russia and Turkey as part of its new sustainability goals.
Incineration could be the key
By coincidence, all three speakers at the recent Nonwovens Network UK seminar held in Bradford, West Yorkshire, cited advanced incineration as the most effective method for the disposal of nonwoven-based consumer hygiene products in West Europe.
Managing a million tons
In its first annual sustainability report published for the year 2010, Ahsltrom discloses that 82% of the fibres it employed came from renewable sources.
Light is Good, say Dilo and Reicofil
A problem for some nonwovens has, in the past, been web uniformity. George Kellie, director of KellieSolutions and Sustainable Nonwovens editorial advisor explains how this is rapidly changing. “Sustainability has to be at the heart of the strategies of all major material producers as we face a world with rising CO2 levels and scarce raw material resources,” he says. “The nonwovens industry is well equipped to take on these challenges and we are seeing the appearance of webs made from bioplastics and natural fibres. These are important changes, but in the real world the greatest change that can made is through progressive lightweighting. Hence our motto – light is good.
Biopolymer blends for enhanced shelf life
US Pacific Nonwovens is currently completing work on the development of spunbond and meltblown fabrics from blends of temperature-compatible grades of PLA and PHB polymers. The company believes that products made from such biodegradable polymer blends – such as surgical drapes and gowns, face masks, head and shoe covers and patient lifting slings – will benefit greatly from improved shelf-life in clean storage.
“It is desirable for biodegradable and compostable nonwoven products to have good shelf-life both in dry, clean storage and in the liquid of packages such as wet wipes, but at the same time to be readily biodegradable in biodegradation and composting environments,” explains Larry Wadsworth, the company’s chief technology officer and CEO, who is a member of the advisory panel of Sustainable Nonwovens.
Technology economies of scale from Ying Yang
In 2011, Ying Yang is without doubt the largest manufacturer of nonwovens machinery in the world.
Yet many outside China will be unaware of the company, which in 2010 was responsible for installing over 300 production lines – perhaps an all-time record – and can now claim to have the widest nonwovens machinery range of any manufacturer anywhere.
Events
New meltblown from waste SMS
BASF reports considerable success with its technology for reprocessing waste SMS polypropylene into new meltblown materials that have qualities comparable to those produced with virgin fibres. In this recycling, the waste from many SMS machines is now being regranulated and mixed with Irgatec CR76 polymer modifier, explained Sebastian Heitkamp, responsible for marketng and product management at BASF Plastic Additives at the recent Techtextil trade fair in Frankfurt.
Avery Dennison to market wearable sensors
The growing home and remote health care market promises to strip away many of the current costs and wasteful practices associated with medical treatment, while enhancing the quality of life for many people.
QuietShield for the 2012 Buick Verano
Federal-Mogul’s QuietShield GRN – green nonwoven – insulation, first used in the 2010 Buick LaCrosse, will now be used by General Motors to help eliminate cabin noise in the new 2012 Buick Verano.
Comprised of recycled cardboard packaging and other byproducts normally discarded at vehicle manufacturing plants, QuietShield GRN is used as acoustical material in the Verano’s headliner to reduce noise in the passenger compartment.
It represents an effective solution compared to traditional noise-dampening materials, that helps reduce waste disposal and associated costs, Federal-Mogul says.
Ingeo expansion in Nebraska
NatureWorks has announced a major capital investment project at its plant in Blair, Nebraska, USA, for the production of new grades of high-performance Ingeo PLA biopolymers – including a product that will reduce the shrinkage and improve the dimensional stability of nonwovens.
