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INDEX 20 postponed until October
In the run up to the 2017 show EDANA has recently completed full-spectrum sustainability studies on the benefits of several applications of durable nonwovens.
15th July 2015
Innovation in Textiles
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Brussels
Once every three years INDEX in Geneva becomes the epicentre of the entire nonwovens industry, bringing together industry professionals from around the world to see all the latest developments in the field of nonwovens.
INDEX 17 will gather the key players from the dynamic nonwovens industry to present their latest innovations and business opportunities to a global audience, with a compelling programme including special events and ‘taster’ training courses.
In the run up to the 2017 show EDANA has recently completed full-spectrum sustainability studies on the benefits of several applications of durable nonwovens.
With the support of its member companies and Denkstatt, an internationally respected consultancy in the field of sustainability headquartered in Vienna, Austria, the ‘Life with Nonwovens’ study analysed all three dimensions of sustainability via a series of case studies in different application sectors. Here are some of the findings, published by EDANA:
“There are so many good stories to tell about the contribution of nonwovens to improving lives,” says EDANA general manager Pierre Wiertz. “Our focus is on generating evidence of these benefits with hard figures, and effectively communicating these messages to customers of our industry.”
Cleaner water is of obvious benefit to everyone, and nonwovens can provide effective, affordable and flexible solutions to make water safe to drink.
Their added value lies in their ability to remove particulates from fluids. Effective water filtration helps prevent disease and removes undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids and gases from contaminated water.
“Today, millions of people still suffer and die from water-borne diseases which could easily be prevented,” says EDANA’s sustainability and public affairs director Pierre Conrath. “Every year diarrhoea alone kills over two million people, mostly children, and nonwovens have a role to play in changing this.”
Nonwoven filter media also make a significant contribution to cleaner air, not least in their use in vehicles.
EDANA has calculated that, with 13 million new cars registered in the European Union each year, nonwoven filters enable savings of some 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents – equal to the reduction of 800,000 passenger cars on the road, or driving 12 billion kilometres in a medium-sized passenger car.
They provide smaller, lighter and more efficient solutions for cabin air, fuel, motor oil and engine air and also perform more effectively for a longer time, ensuring each vehicle can deliver environmental benefits that are six times higher than the impact required to both produce and dispose of them.
Nonwovens are also used in many other applications in vehicles, from temperature and sound insulation to seating, linings and carpets.
Typically, they are between 15-30% lighter than the traditional materials they replace, making each car more than 2kgs lighter.
By replacing heavier, less efficient materials, nonwovens use less fuel, generating less greenhouse gas emissions. This not only leads to improved air quality, but to a reduction in the use of resources, and better health for all.
Another health-related role for nonwovens is in fighting the spread of healthcare associated infections (HAIs).
According to figures from the World Health Organisation, HAIs affect more than four million patients and are directly responsible for 37,000 deaths in Europe every year. In addition, patients with a surgical site infection spend an average 6.5 days in hospital, and are more than five times likely to die.
This rate of infection not only causes a huge impact on the patient, but has a significant impact on the treating physician and hospitals, costing them more than €5.4 billion every year, and resulting in a financial loss of €7 billion in direct costs.
“Single-use gowns, drapes and other nonwoven products for operating rooms are an effective barrier protection solution, and are essential to the prevention of infections,” says EDANA’s Marketing and Communications Director, Abby Bailey. “Nonwoven surgical products offer every patient a new, secure, unused and sterile material.”
Meanwhile, some 250 million square metres or 35,000 tons of membranes are used for pitched roofing every year in Europe – enough to cover more than 60,000 football fields – and nonwovens for this application offer a solution more than twice as effective as other alternatives.
The use of nonwovens in pitched roof membranes, instead of asphalted cardboard, enables an annual benefit of 160,000 tons of CO2 equivalents, equal to 975 trips around the moon, or 50,000 less cars on the road.
Pitched roof nonwoven carriers support the mechanical strength of the membrane, while the film keeps water from coming in and lets water vapour out. Nonwoven-film membranes contribute to a lower air exchange between inside and outside, reducing the energy needed to heat the building.
Today, newly built pitched roofs are generally insulated, and vapour permeable membranes are used to protect both the building and its occupants.
In agriculture, nonwoven crop covers can also make a big difference to production yields and prevent spoilage once a crop has been harvested. When growing strawberries, for example, a farmer only has to save 2% of the value of a crop to make using nonwoven covers worthwhile. This equates to a saving of €25 million of strawberries which, otherwise, would not make it to market.
Nonwoven crop covers can also be used again and again and, by increasing the production and limiting damage to agricultural crops, nonwovens ensure that the crop grown in the field is maximised.
Many more applications for durable nonwovens will be highlighted at INDEX™17, the leading nonwovens show which next takes place at the Palexpo from 4th-7th April 2017. The infographics from EDANA’s ‘Life with Nonwovens’ study can be viewed and downloaded from the application pages at: www.edana.org .
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