Although resources may be tight, looking for opportunities beyond conventional borders such as seeking collaborations and joint ventures with the developing markets offer new pathways for growth, advocates Dr Seshadri Ramkumar.

What’s the state the world is in?
This year’s Nobel prize announcements have come and gone. Nobel Peace Prize for President Obama was a Friday shocker which made the two words “For what?” famous around the world. President Obama’s prize is aspirational and forces the US to take timely leadership to chart out new paths of diplomacy and engagement. In other words, unilateralism is no longer going to be the way forward. Engagement and global involvement for peace and growth are important tools.

Similarly in the realm of trade, globalisation and fair trade will occupy the head table in the way business is conducted among nations. Protectionism, reactionary tariffs and trade barriers are not popular these days and attract highest levels of attention in the governments depending on the political climate. Recently, as a measure to protect manufacturing jobs in the US, Obama administration enhanced the tariff on Chinese tires imported into the US, which created uproar in China. In a similar vein, Canadians were unhappy about the protectionist measures in the US attached to its stimulus bill. As a retaliatory measure, some local and provincial governments in Canada are contemplating not to use US goods and services. These recent incidences clearly indicate that nations are joined at their hips and protectionism will have serious effects, which will influence the lifestyle of global consumers.

We are at a state where war against terrorism and fundamental ideologies and global economic recession are presenting difficult challenges to governments and global leaders. More importantly, global political and economic situations demand countries to engage in trade across their borders to provide goods at competitive prices. In this globalised economy, for countries to be successful in businesses in which they have competitive advantage, these four Es are important: 1) Coping with Economy; 2) Generation of Employment; 3) Environmental friendliness, and 4) Improvement in skills through Education. In other words, the four Es for growth are Economy, Employment, Environment and Education.

Environment and next generation textile industry

Recently, G8, G5 and few other economies had their climate change meeting in L’Aquila, Italy. G8 nations have committed to reducing emissions by 80 percentage by 2050. They have also urged G5 nations (China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa) to curb their greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050. The deliberations in L’Aquila meeting clearly signal the importance major nations are giving for global warming issues and preserving the planet for future generations. This is “Sustainability.” Countries around the world are making policies to limit the temperature rise to 2ºC as a way of sustaining the planet. Sustainability can have different meanings and can take different forms.

However, the underpinning basic theme behind it is to preserve the planet as we inherited and leaving it for generations to come. In this regard, nonwovens and technical textiles (NWTT) industry has a significant role to play. Efforts have to be made in such a way that there is sustainability in all aspects, ie, environment, energy and economy. This is, “Sustainability equation.” As the NWTT industry predominantly produces single-use and synthetic fibre based products, it is timely and important for the industry and trade associations representing the industry to come up with guidelines for the sustainability aspect of the industry.

More importantly, the immediate challenge for the industry is to have good public relations with the general public and the government so that unwanted misunderstandings and regulations can be avoided. This is important for the growth of the industry. Most recently, Cary, USA Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) organised its first meeting of its “Sustainability Sub-committee of its Technical Advisory Board”. INDA’s mission statement for the sustainability task force is in tune with the general definition, “Preserving the planet for the future.” Not only there needs to be policy initiatives and guidelines for sustainability, creating awareness among consumers is a must.

Sustainability should take the front seat in nonwoven industry as there are a few unsubstantiated negative reports in the public domain on some products from nonwoven industry. Recently, Detroit and Raleigh city newspapers have reported issues with wipes clogging the sewage system due to flushing of wipes in toilets. Thanks to the flushability guidelines issued last year by INDA and EDANA, the nonwovens industry now has a unified approach in this matter. With these guidelines, the industry will adopt uniform measures such as flushable labels based on the guidelines for proper awareness.

In a similar vein, there needs to be some sort of uniform approach and understanding of sustainability aspect, at least within the NWTT industry. This will help the industry to have greater acceptance and image. It should be noted that the nascent NWTT industry and the end-user community in developing nations such as India are taking a keen attention on the sustainability aspect of the NWTT industry. In a recent workshop on the “Marketing and Technology of Technical Textiles,” organised by Bangalore TecniTex Nonwovens Pvt Ltd and Texas Tech University, USA in Coimbatore, India, questions about the environmental friendliness and the biodegradability of several nonwoven and technical textiles products were asked by several participants. This shows the growing awareness on the nature of the nonwoven industry and its impact on environment. In my opinion, it has taken at least a couple of decades for the NWTT to consider sustainability as an important factor for its survival and growth.

Sustainability and economy
The recent L’Aquila meeting and the forthcoming Climate Conference in Copenhagen are forcing new environmentally friendly initiatives to be dealt very seriously in many capital cities. In addition, the opportunities that are on the horizon with the green collar economy will also play its part in creating new avenues for the NWTT industry. The penetration of eco-friendly raw materials and finished goods is happening aggressively these days due to consumer awareness and requirements. In addition, Government regulations in some countries and even municipalities play their own part with the emergence of green NWTT industry.

The Obama Administration in the United States expects that the $ 787 billion dollar stimulus package will create 5 million new jobs, much of them will be green collar ones. Opportunities exist for the NWTT industry with the use of recycled fibres for infrastructure and architectural projects, natural fibre based composites for defense, aerospace and signature structure reinforcement projects, natural fibre based medical and hygiene products, etc. For example, in the stimulus package, there is $ 5 billion package for weatherising homes. NWTT industry can develop environmentally friendly products that can absorb moisture and reduce energy consumption for heating homes. Such products can be made using post consumer and recycled materials, which not only will save costs but also will be eco-friendly.

In addition, there will be also need for environmentally friendly finishes and chemicals. Future economy not only will focus on green collar jobs, but also on renewable energy. Energy constitutes a major portion of the manufacturing cost and hence as part of the sustainability equation, the industry should have projects aimed at energy conservation and reducing its usage. Efforts such as energy co-generation, in house renewable energy creation from wastes should be considered seriously. S C Johnson, the consumer products company in the USA, in one of its production facility is generating its energy from nearby landfill, which not only helps with the cost of manufacturing, but also showcases environmental stewardship.

New opportunities
Global warming and pollution reduction initiatives by developing nations create new market opportunities for the NWTT industry. Majority of the sectors within the NWTT industry are bound to benefit due to these new opportunities that are on the horizon. Reducing the air pollution is a priority endeavour in developing and to be developed economies and such initiatives will help the filtration sector. Products such as air filters and face masks will be in demand in nations where the suspended particulates levels are high such as India. There is growing awareness among the public on the detrimental aspects of such pollution.

In addition, public awareness on these issues is on the rise. For example, reports on the total suspended particles and respirable suspended particles appear regularly in prominent newspapers in major cities in India such as Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi. The acceptable levels of total suspended particles and respirable particles in Chennai are 200 and 100 micrograms per cubic metre respectively. However, the current levels are nearly twice. Therefore, there is an immediate need for preventive measures.

Nonwoven materials from post consumer and recycled materials, which can come at affordable prices, have opportunities to go into products for preventing pollution in such cities. In addition to the creation of new markets for cost effective filtration products, there will be tremendous opportunities for private label companies to collaborate and invest in the creation of converting sector in India. There is dearth of knowledge in taking rollgoods and making them into useful products such as pleated filters, oil filters, etc in developing nations.

The environmental awareness has given a new boost to the recycled polypropylene spunbond bags even in the west. The re-usable shopping bags have become a hit with the consumers. The convenience and the cost of the bags, which are sold at a dollar a piece, have made this product a major hit with the consumers. Although in a strict sense, these bags are not eco-friendly as they are non-biodegradable, the fact that they are made from post consumer products and are multi-use give them an edge over single use polyethylene bags and paper carry bags. In developing nations, due to population, and the rise in disposable incomes, spending habits have improved. Malls are on the rise. Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart joint initiative, which just opened its first mall in the State of Punjab in India in planning an additional 10 malls in the next 3 - 5 years.

In India, additional 100 malls by different promoters are expected to come-up. These are the venues for marketing environmentally sustainable consumer products. Particularly, packtech sector constitutes the major share of the nonwovens industry in India and China. For example, in India, nearly 1,00,000 metric tons per year of polypropylene are consumed just for the manufacture of spunbond bags, which are popularly known as promotional bags. This has created a major dent in the conventional packaging bags industry, which used to be cotton cloth and jute bags before the penetration of polypropylene bags. Comber noils and cotton linters are available in reasonable quantity in India and these can be used to develop environmentally friendly promotional bags and packaging items.

Some new eco-friendly products
In addition to the acceptance of re-usable bags by the consumers, there is a growing interest for products from 100% natural materials by some sections of the society. Although this market may be niche, due to enhanced margin, it provides new opportunities for the NWTT industry. Such markets are also providing much needed opportunities for the conventional textile industry as they want to move away from low margin commodity textile products.

Natural and regenerated fibres such as cotton, rayon, polylactic acid, hemp, jute are all finding new markets and new end-use applications. Wipes sector has played an important role in enhancing the use and sales values of these fibres. The US based Cotton Incorporated, as part of its promotional effort is providing cotton seal for nonwoven products that have a minimum 15% of cotton. This cotton seal has good recognition among consumers and has enabled the boost of cotton’s share in apparel and textile products. For example, Kirkland wipes released by Costco that has 15% of bleached cotton has become a major wipe product and has boosted the image of cotton in the nonwovens sector.

As stated above, wipes sector provides a good platform for natural and regenerated fibre producers to increase the use of non-synthetic fibres in the nonwovens industry. This was clearly evident in the recent INDA’s World of Wipes conference in June in Atlanta, where all major players such as Birla Cellulose, India, Lenzing, Cotton Incorporated, Buckeye, Banhardt and Ingeo were in attendance. Manufacturing industries are using combinatorial approaches and are exploiting multiple processing techniques to develop environmentally friendly products. Recent trend shows that these are predominantly incremental approaches and no disruptive technologies have emerged in recent past.

The Hong Kong-based US Pacific Nonwovens Industry, Ltd, is developing high-tech wipes by combining spunbonding and hydroentangling processes. According to C K Wong, chief executive officer of US Pacific Nonwovens, these wipes are developed by incorporating airlaid fibres/pulp on to spunbond webs, followed by introducing scrim to give strength before spunlacing to develop composite wipes. In another development from US Pacific Nonwovens, spunbonded web is combined with a wetlaid web, which is then hydroentangled. The water is recycled and used in the wetlaying process. These next-generation wipe processes clearly emphasise the need to save resources and use natural materials as much as possible.

In another interesting development, a collaborative effort between Lenzing and Weyerhaeuser is enabling the development of 100% cellulose meltblown webs. The meltblown webs are bonded by spunlacing, which results in lint free and high strength webs. According to Robert Smith of Lenzing, TencelWebTM is a sustainable cellulose based material that can have industrial and personal care applications. The need for such wipes and the process behind the development of such wipes were presented by Robert Smith of Lenzing in the recent World of Wipes event.

The cotton industry is also looking into the utilisation of mechanically cleaned cotton for the production of wipes, which can absorb oil. Ongoing research at Texas Tech University, USA is utilising needlepunching technology to develop 40 - 50 GSM wipes from mechanically cleaned cotton. Additional efforts are underway to develop cotton based decontamination wipes for use by military and homeland security markets.

Sustainability—The Challenge Ahead
“Safe disposal of plastic waste still a challenge,” was the headline of a recent article in “The Hindu,” India’s highly acclaimed English broadsheet daily. The problems associated with landfills, global warming and the impact these have on the global trade are forcing all stakeholders such as the industry, consumers, think-tanks and Governments to bring sustainability into every aspect of living. For developed nations, sustainable manufacturing is the need of the hour. The industry to responding its challenge for survival and growth by adopting incremental approaches to develop eco-friendly products. For the developing nations, an important lesson from the NWTT sector of the developed nations is that they should rope-in eco-friendliness right from the start. This is doable as the industry is just beginning to grow in India and elsewhere. Reuse, recycle and conserve should be the mantras for the next-generation NWTT industry.

Innovation—Path Forward for the Textile Industry
Procter and Gamble’s Chief Execuitve Officer Lefley and Ram Charan in their book, “Game Changer,” articulate the importance of research and innovation and that too consumer oriented R&D. This book is a must read for NWTT industry when major companies are downsizing their R&D budgets. This month, Ahlstrom announced that it is permanently shutting down its Gallarate plant in Italy along with one production line in Cressa plant. While permanent closures are happening in Europe, Ahlstrom is executing compulsory temporary shut down in USA. Several major nonwovens manufacturers are restructuring and downsizing to cope with reduced demand. All these reports indicate that the nonwovens industry is not immune to global economic downturn although it caters to some essential consumer items such as diapers, baby wipes and feminine hygiene products. The current economic recession is leading to negative ripple effects such as job losses and less spending.

The latest unemployment number in the US for September 2009 released by the US Department of Labour shows that it has climbed to 9.8% reaching a 26-year high. In addition, according to the US Federal Reserve, the current savings rate in the US is as high as 16 percentage. The high unemployment and savings rates have negative impact on consumer oriented industries such as electronics and textiles. Apart from these factors, there is keen interest on the technical textiles sector in developing nations such as India and China. China is ahead of India by 15 years with the per capita consumption of 1 to 1.5 kilograms.

However, the per capita consumption of nonwovens and speciality fabrics in India is less than 200 grams. India is well suited for the growth of nonwovens and industrial textiles sectors, which is good for the industry in developed nations as it will increase the trade. The nonwovens and the technical textiles industry in the developing nations may serve as suppliers for convertors in North America and Europe, which will eat some portion of the market that is currently held by rollgoods manufacturers in North America and EU. Already companies such as Rockline Industries are sourcing from India based Ginni Filaments. India can deliver goods at competitive price due to the availability of natural and regenerated fibres, relatively cheap labour and fairly supportive Government schemes.

The recently formed United Progressive Alliance Indian government is aiming to create 10 million new jobs in the textile industry in the next five years. To accomplish this, there needs to be growth in the technical textiles sector. There are policy initiatives, which are aimed at supporting the growth of both conventional and technical textiles. One such policy is to have zero import duty on synthetic and high performance fibres. The Indian textile industry is supportive of this, “National fibre Policy,” as India has no high performance fibre base. It is hoped that this policy will be implemented by December 2009. The execution of this policy will open-up doors for international high performance fibre producers such as Dupont, Honeywell, Toray, Toyobo, etc. In addition, the availability of high performance synthetic materials will help with the growth of technical textiles sector in India.

Way Ahead
Looking at what is happening in nonwoven industry, it is clear that textile industry has been pinched by the global economic recession. Two things come out loud and clear: 1) Stay nimble and 2) Invest in R&D. Those companies that are lean and adapt quickly to the economic and technological challenges will stay competitive. Although resources may be tight, looking for opportunities beyond conventional borders such as seeking collaborations and joint ventures with the developing markets offer new pathways for growth. Innovation and that too consumer centric R&D should be the mantra to move ahead.

Note: For detailed version of this article please refer the print version of The Indian Textile Journal December 2009 issue.

Dr Seshadri Ramkumar
Nonwovens and Advanced Materials Laboratory,
Texas Tech University, Lubbock,
Texas, USA.