The plastics industry – committed to change or defending the status quo?
The year 2018 can be considered an annus horribilis for plastics, including synthetic polymer and fiber-based products that rely on such materials. The issue of microplastics in the oceans generated a mountain of negative publicity and calls for far-ranging action against the industry and, at the same time, the publicity surrounding so-called ‘fatbergs’ created, in …
From Egyptian cotton to recycled POY and DFY filaments – ITMA 2019 showcases advanced fiber technologies
By Adrian Wilson, European Correspondent
Over 105,000 visitors descended on Barcelona, Spain, from June 20-26 for this year’s ITMA textile technology exhibition, which takes place once every four years in Europe. The technologies of the 1,717 exhibitors from 45 countries on display are employed in producing a wide range of fiber-based products, ranging from clothing and home furnishings to more technical products, such as construction materials and reinforcements for composites.
Swiss textile machinery companies look to growth in carbon and glass fiber composites
The majority of the members of Swissmem’s association of Swiss textile machinery manufacturers have their origins in technology for the processing of cotton fibers, and as the textile industry developed, synthetics. It has been calculated, in fact, that the association’s 44 members can draw on a staggering 4,011 years of combined engineering and processing know-how between them, but all have greatly diversified over the years.
Heimtextil 2019: New fiber functionality for a mass market
Attracting over 3,000 exhibitors to Frankfurt in Germany, the 49th Heimtextil home textiles show kicked off the 2019 textile trade fair calendar from January 8-11th.The European home textiles market is worth around an annual €27 billion and serviced by a decidedly global supply chain, reflected in the event’s participants hailing from no less than 65 countries.Among them were some of the leaders in fibers and raw materials, such as Germany’s Trevira, which leads the field with its Trevira
Denim manufacturers are eager for fiber innovations
By Adrian Wilson, International Correspondent
Advanced fibers are now critical to the marketing campaigns of fabric mills supplying the $60 billion denim apparel market. Differentiation is the key in this highly competitive field and companies are quick to jump on any new development that can provide it.
Over the past decade, huge vertically-integrated capacities for the production of denim have been built up by companies in the three major manufacturing countries of the Indian subcontinent