INDA’s World of Wipes International Conference 2016 finished last week, with organisers reporting a great turnout, demonstrating the strength of the nonwovens wipe sector.

This year’s conference, held at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Chicago, attracted more than 400 registrants to receive information from over 25 valuable presentations, with attendees and board members giving the programme content, speaker presentations and networking high praise.

Attendees reported that they valued the new connections they made with participants who were unique in their interest of wipes. Find out more about the event here – INDA’s World of Wipes 2016 demonstrates strength of nonwovens wipe sector.

Carver Non-Woven Technologies announces new manufacturing facility

Another news from the nonwovens sector comes from a wholly owned subsidiary of custom compression moulder and compounder R3 Composites – Carver Non-Woven Technologies, which this week announced the star-up of its new manufacturing facility.

The plant will be in full commercial production of high-quality, single- and multi-material nonwoven products for both R3 and the broader North American composites industry by 15 July 2016.

The new production facility features state-of-the-art technologies, such as the Hyperpunch needle loom technology, developed by Dilo Group. The technology is said to allow for faster needling and higher throughput, hence more economical production of needled fine fleeces. The Carver team says it is the first nonwovens manufacturer to apply Hyperpunch technology to the production of natural fibre nonwovens. Read the full story here – Carver Non-Woven Technologies to start-up new manufacturing facility.

Recognised for commitment to sustainability

Meanwhile, three companies have announced achieving industry recognition for their commitment to sustainability this week. Klopman International, a leading manufacturer of the workwear fabrics, has achieved the STeP certification by Oeko-Tex Association. Following a three-day audit, preceded by a two-month assessment, Klopman achieved the maximum level of certification (level 3) defined as “exemplary implementation in the sense of a best practice example”. See more here – Klopman International achieves STeP certification.

Sciessent, a leading provider of antimicrobial and odour absorption solutions for the textile and apparel industries, became the first US company to receive the new Eco Passport by Oeko-Tex certification for sustainable textile chemicals. Oeko-Tex issued the Eco Passport certification for Sciessent’s LAVA XL next generation self-regenerating odour control technology. Find out more here – Sciessent awarded new Eco Passport by Oeko-Tex for sustainable textile chemicals.

Finally, Invista, a leading producer of polymers, fibres and intermediates, has been recognized by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) association for safety excellence at its sites in Wilmington, NC, and in Orange and Victoria, TX. In addition to the AFPM safety awards, Invista has also been recognized for chemical safety and rail transportation excellence for its performance in 2015. Read more here –  Invista recognized for safety excellence by national organizations.

Corsair Innovations receives US$ 250,000 in funding

Also this week, there are some exciting news about the new funding programmes designed to help develop different sectors of the technical textiles industry.

Corsair Innovations, for example, a company created to realise University of Massachusetts Dartmouth technology breakthroughs, has just become one of five recipients of a US$ 250,000 funding award from the third Head Health Challenge.

Corsair Innovations will use these funds to further refine its FEAM technology, an innovative 100% textile replacement to foam padding used in helmets and body armour. According to the company, FEAM can absorb blunt force energies and reduce risk of trauma by mitigating impact energies. For more, click here – Corsair Innovations receives US$ 250,000 in funding for its novel FEAM material.

US$ 21 million-partnership to revive New Zealand’s wool industry

Wool Industry Research Ltd (WIRL) and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) have also announced a new US$ 21 million research partnership to support the wool industry in New Zealand.

Meeting for the first time last week with Dr Max Kennedy, National Manager Biological Industries, MBIE, the Board will begin discussions around the research required over the seven-year period to generate transformational opportunities for the coarse wool market.

The focus of the US$ 21 million research investment is to look at new ways to use wool as a source of high value keratin. The partnership programme will also work with traditional manufacturing industries to develop new technical textiles. Find out more here – Research partnership to provide US$ 21 million to revive New Zealand’s wool industry

DOE partnership for fibreglass manufacturing improvement project

Furthermore, the collaboration between PPG, a leading manufacturer of coatings, specialty materials and fibreglass, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was recently awarded through the US Department of Energy’s new High Performance Computing for Manufacturing (HPC4Mfg) programme.

PPG will provide US$ 99,000 in technical support to the project and the DOE will contribute US$ 300,000 to LLNL to fund its effort on the project. The two companies will work together to use high-performance computers to help reduce glass fibre breakage during the fibreglass manufacturing process. Find out the details here – PPG awarded DOE partnership for fibreglass manufacturing improvement project.

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Jana Bukolovska

Editorial Assistant

Billy Hunter is away