INDA, the Association of the Nonwovens Fabrics Industry, is taking the lead to inform the nonwovens/engineered materials industry with three one-hour webinars on the toughest issues facing the North American Nonwovens Industry. The critical issues include, facemask performance standards, single use plastics (SUP) legislative policy issues, and industry impacts from recent capacity announcements in Spunbond/Spunmelt/Spunlace caused by COVID-19 demand for wipes, medical gowns, and facemask materials.

The one-hour webinars will be held at 11 am EDT on March 16th, 25th, and April 6th, and include subject matter experts in facemask standards, plastics legislation, and nonwoven supply/demand analysis.

Topics include:

The New ASTM Performance Standard for General Public Facemasks and Resultant Design/Product Opportunities

Tuesday, March 16th, 11 am EDT

Presenters: Dave Rousse, President, INDA, and Jeff Stull, President, International Personnel Protection, Inc.

To conserve meltblown fibre for the healthcare sector while using other nonwoven media to provide protection to the general public, INDA worked with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) to develop a performance standard for general public facemasks.  Jeff Stull, Consultant to NIOSH and steward of the ASTM process, will discuss the purpose and development of the upcoming Standard, its two performance levels, and test methods.  Dave Rousse, President of INDA, will discuss design opportunities created for makers of facemask filter media and facemask designers.

Plastics Concerns and the Nonwovens Industry

Thursday, March 25th, 11 am EDT

Presenters:  Dave Rousse, President, INDA, Jessica Franken, Director of Government Affairs, INDA, and Tom Carlyle, Nonwovens Commercial Manager-Americas, Lenzing AG

Legislative initiatives on Single Use Plastics introduced in California, Canada and the U.S. Congress will be harmful to nonwovens, especially those that use viscose.  All businesses involved in nonwovens should know of these impending impacts on nonwoven products and the unintended consequences to their business.  Jessica Franken will review the current legislative status in states, Congress and Canada and INDA’s engagement with other plastic industry associations to address the challenges of the European Union’s approach should it be incorporated in North America.  Tom Carlyle of Lenzing will discuss the viscose/lyocell supply and interchangeability realities.

Spunbond/Spunmelt/Spunlace Capacity/Demand Scenarios Prompted by COVID-19

Tuesday, April 6th, 11 am EDT

Presenters: Brad Kalil, Director of Market Intelligence and Economic Insights, INDA, and Dave Rousse, President, INDA

The COVID-19 pandemic and the U.S. federal government response to it has quickly upped the North American footprint for meltblown production. Tightness now is being seen in Spunbond/Spunmelt and in the hydroentangled wipes substrate often called Spunlace. Several new capacity announcements have been made in nonwovens.

INDA’s Brad Kalil had been tracking developments in these sectors and will present the 2021 North American Supply Report data and analysis with his insights on developments caused by the pandemic response in wipes, medical gowns, and facemask material supply sectors.

“The COVID-19 Pandemic has generated many challenges to the Nonwovens Industry in North America and around the world,” said Dave Rousse, INDA President. “INDA has been active in tracking, leading and advocating on several relevant policy issues enabling our members to run their businesses with confidence that INDA is on alert, looking around corners, and positioned to inform and lead in supporting our members’ ability to conduct business with the facts they need and unimpeded by policy development challenges. These webinars deliver on those points.”

Each webinar is $99 for a single INDA Member, $250 for up to eight INDA Members from the same company, and $500 for up to 15 INDA Members from the same company. Non-member fees for the three categories are $130, $325, and $650 respectively. There is a 15% discount for Members and non-members purchasing all three webinars at one time.

Visit www.inda.org/inda-webinars to learn more.