SCHWARZENBACH - Nonwovens manufacturer Sandler and National Sweden, a global supplier of polymer solutions, are working together to advance their sustainability strategies, which includes creating closed cycles for polyester materials in automotive applications.

As Sandler notes, the sustainability discussion centered around plastics and petroleum-based raw materials has launched critical considerations of the resources and materials used in all industries and affecting all stages of the value chain. It has also become clear that the goal of sustainability cannot be achieved through one single initiative, but requires long-term commitment, and that only close cooperation between all parties involved is the basis for making this commitment sustainably successful.

In the field of technical textiles, synthetic fibres such as polyester are widely used. Owing to modern recycling technologies this resource is already available as a recycled raw material today – in the form of fibres as well as granules. The question posed by Sandler and National Sweden is why not also send materials made from polyester to be recycled again and keep valuable resources in the cycle longer?

Together, the two organisations are working on closed cycles with nonwovens for automotive applications. "Through the integration of modern recycling concepts, trims from processing are being reprocessed and used as raw materials for the manufacture of new products," Sandler said. "Owing to the strong partnership and the commitment of both companies to take on additional logistics efforts, a completely closed material cycle is created, using valuable raw materials longer, reducing waste and decreasing the need to use virgin resources."