Opportunities for Sustainable Advancements
As sustainable innovations in biomaterials continue to proliferate, the nonwovens industry faces challenges – but also enormous opportunities.
Recent advances in applications development for polylactic acid (PLA) nonwovens provide new performance benefits that allow for expanded commercial use of PLA at scale in new hygiene applications. These developments accompany an increased focus from brands on the carbon footprint and source of the materials they use as they look at sourcing improvements and carbon reductions for their sustainability reports and ESG disclosures.
Biomaterials like PLA may not be the perfect solution for all nonwoven applications yet, but their performance benefits and sustainability credentials make them an immediately available swap for many petrochemical-based nonwovens. With recent technical advances like achieving low basis weights, improved softness and strength, fluid management that outperforms polypropylene, and increased conversion efficiencies, PLA demonstrates potential for biobased nonwovens to meet both performance and sustainability needs for hygiene products.
Sustainable Feedstocks Lead to Sustainable Products
Sustainable sourcing of materials is a top priority for hygiene brands that are looking to market products as biobased or plant-based to consumers who are looking for more sustainable hygiene products. Incumbent materials like polypropylene are made from non-renewable fossil feedstocks like natural gas. In contrast, PLA is made by fermenting plant sugars derived from annually renewable feedstocks into lactic acid, the building block for polylactic acid.
Transitioning to PLA and similar biobased materials enables brands to decouple their products from fossil-based materials and integrate biomaterials with low carbon footprints into their products. In fact, based on peer reviewed data published in third-party journals, Ingeo™ PLA has a carbon footprint 62% smaller than polypropylene1,2 and 77% smaller than polyester3. To translate this into a real-life comparison, replacing 1 PET wipe with one made from Ingeo PLA is equivalent to reducing the carbon emissions equivalent to driving a new car 100 feet.
Additionally, biobased nonwovens made from PLA can achieve biobased certifications like OK Biobased or USDA Biopreferred as they contain measurable biogenic carbon, or carbon captured by plants. These certifications underpin a brand’s ability to make claims on biobased content to consumers while adhering to the FTC’s Green Guides which regulate the advertising of environ-mental claims.
Softer, Stronger, Faster
We’ve observed that while hygiene brands are interested in replacing fossil-based nonwovens with biobased materials, they are unwilling to accept substitutions that sacrifice performance attributes and manufacturing speeds delivered by fossil-based incumbent materials.
We believe the future of PLA is direct greenhouse gas conversion, in which biomaterials will be made from greenhouse gasses themselves, rather than biogenic carbon. To achieve such innovations, how-
ever, the industry must first continue to grow in applications and commercial availability. This will encourage more partial biobased solutions and enable more products to transition fully to biobased materials. Promising new advances point toward active development in that direction.
Engineers at NatureWorks developed Ingeo grades that could be converted into a bicomponent spunbond nonwoven with a PLA core and a polyethylene sheath. With a basis weight less than 15 gsm and fibers less than 0.5 denier – roughly half of what was previously available – this new combination improved the productivity of the spunbond process by at least 30%. When made into hygiene masks, the new nonwoven achieved Level 2 requirements for both filtration and breathability conforming to the ASTM F3502-21 standard.
Within the diapers market, we understood there was a strong desire for a material that was not only durably hydrophilic and soft but still offered conversion efficiency. After years of innovation and reviewing various biomaterials such as PBAT, PBS, PHA, and others, we found a promising result in Ingeo 6500D. The new Ingeo grade is 50% softer and 80% stronger than generic PLA and meets the needed at low basis weights for products desired for top sheets in diapers.
A more recent request we received was to increase the strength of biobased spunbond nonwovens for hygiene applications such as medical gowns and hygiene textiles. In response, NatureWorks applications engineers developed a biobased Ingeo PLA/PBSa blend using materials from PTT MCC that delivers increased tensile strength and elongation, allowing manufacturers to further optimize their material use with lower basis weight fabrics.
Of course, to continue achieving these sustainable innovations, the industry must grow in more sustainable adaptations and commercial availability. Biobased materials have become a viable solution across many nonwoven applications – wipes, face masks, diapers and medical gowns are just a few – and can not only achieve performance parity but outperform petrochemical-based nonwovens in certain applications. We are optimistic that these new and promising advancements indicate a continued and active development toward sustainable and biobased solutions.
To learn more about Ingeo PLA and its applications, visit natureworksllc.com.
