Sustainable

Sportswear and sports shoe giant Nike Inc. has announced the launch of a revolutionary new running shoe which uses state-of-the-art integral knitting techniques to create a one piece upper which is virtually seamless. The Nike Flyknit upper is engineered for precision fit and aims to create the feeling of a second skin for runners.

Naturally Advanced Technologies Inc. (NAT), which produces and markets CRAiLAR, a natural fibre made from flax and other bast fibres, announced that TSX Venture Exchange has named the Company to its 2012 TSX Venture 50, a list assembled based on quantitative measurement of top performing publicly traded companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). NAT was ranked fourth in Clean Tech sector.

A year after its launch at Expofil, Filature Miroglio, manufacturer of the Newlife fibre platform presented its Newlife Eco-Innovation Library at last week’s Première Vision in Paris. The Italian company reports great interest and turnout for Newlife and the innovative materials made with its 100% recycled premium fibre.

The Switzerland based International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) has published its State of Trade Report for the 3rd Quarter of 2011. The organisation reports that global yarn and fabric production were up in Q3 and that estimates for Q4 are also positive.

Rapid growth in demand in emerging markets is driving investment in nonwovens, according to new report by business information company Textiles Intelligence. The World Nonwovens Industry: Part 2 - 20 Medium Sized Producers was published in the first quarter of 2012 and is now available for purchase here on Innovation in Textiles.

ACIMIT, the organisation representing the Italian textile machinery manufacturers says that orders for Italian textile machinery sector are now back on the rise.

On 9 December 2011, Prof. Stefan Mecheels, Head of the Hohenstein Institute, opened the new test laboratory at the International Textile Testing and Service Centre in Hong Kong. It was an opportunity to tell the approximately 70 invited guests from all around the world about the work of the Hohenstein experts.

After the success of its 2010 Nonwovens Symposium in Baveno, which drew more than 200 delegates, EDANA has announced the programme for the first Eurasia Nonwovens Symposium, which will take place at the Sheraton Ataköy Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey from the 10-11 May 2012.

Nike announced this morning that it has entered into a strategic partnership with DyeCoo Textile Systems B.V., a Netherlands-based company that has developed and built the first commercially available waterless textile dyeing machines. By using recycled carbon dioxide, DyeCoo's technology eliminates the use of water in the textile dyeing process. The name DyeCoo was inspired by the process of ‘dyeing’ with ‘CO2.’

Over the past decade there has been a marked increase in the development of nonwoven technologies for the successful processing of alternative raw materials, including natural fibres, and for the recycling of waste materials.