Sustainability
The fate of plastics and bio-based fibers
The nonwovens industry supplies a diverse range of products to multiple markets. Many of these products, especially those that target consumers, such as hygiene products and wipes, are largely designed for single-use application. In terms of the lifecycle of these products, the end of life choices for most nonwovens are largely three-fold: landfill, incineration, or …
Eastman employs molecular recycling to enable the reuse of waste material over & over & over again
Eastman, as part of its commitment to advancing a circular economy, has launched an initiative rooted in the belief that plastic and textile waste can not only be eliminated but used, reused, recycled, and re-created over and over again. The company’s Advanced Circular Recycling technologies provide an infinite lifespan for waste materials that were previously …
The textile recycling black hole
New legislative measures aimed at protecting the environment within the European Union are likely to make things extremely difficult for synthetic fiber producers in the coming years. The European Green Deal will see €750 billion pumped into a wide range of projects with the overall aim of making the entire continent climate neutral by 2050. …
From linearity to circularity – new technologies drive sustainable innovation
With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to hamper the fiber community with restrictions on travel and public gatherings, the 59th Dornbirn Global Fiber Congress was, for the first time, held virtually. Opening the congress, Austrian Minister for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology Leonore Gewessler stressed the importance of the circular economy. She noted …
How should we handle the plastics in the environment problem?
Environmental footprints are a metric for the measurement of human demand on natural capital. This measurement attempts to consider multiple impacts of an activity rather than focusing on a single one. In the textile industry the environmental footprint considers the impacts of carbon, water, land and air from textile production. The textile industry is a …