A consortium of five Egyptian researchers have developed the world’s first high performance fibers and reinforcements extracted from the byproducts of pruning of date palms, such as frond and fruit stalks, also known as PalmFil. The fiber is not only sustainable, but also economical in manufacturing, compatible with textile and composite processing and offers the properties needed for lightweight cars of the future. “In the 1980’s the shift from natural fibers to manmade fibers was mainly to bridge the gap between the increasing demand for textile fibers and the limited supply of natural fibers," says Dr. Mohamad Midani, partner, PalmFil Consortium. "In order to reverse this shift, there is a need to explore more sources of natural fibers and increase the biodiversity of fiber crops. Thisis actually what we did, there are more than 140 million date palms mostly concentrated in the Middle East and North Africa, generating yearly more than 4.8 million tons (dry wt.) byproducts of pruning regarded as agriculture waste. This represented a burden on palm growers, and was the main cause of fire accidents and infestation by dangerous insects. Those byproducts could otherwise be transformed into 1.3 million tons/year natural textile fibers, ranking third after cotton and jute.” There has been several previous attempts to extract fibers from date palm byproducts through crushing and grinding, resulting in a biomass rather than textile fibers. PalmFil consortium succeeded in extracting the first long textile fiber from such byproducts and converted it into fiber tow, chopped fiber, spun yarn/ roving, nonwoven mat, woven fabric, and unidirectional tape. The new fiber represents a sustainable material base for a wide spectrum of industries. Ranging from natural reinforcements for composites in automotive and sporting goods, plasterreinforcements in construction, burlap sacks for packaging, ropes, and twines, non-wood papers, and other consumer products. Mr. Dilip Tambyrajah, secretary general, International Natural Fiber Organization, says: "Date palm byproducts have been used for centuries in the Middle East and it is a heritage related material. It is culturally embedded in Middle Easterns but possibly forgotten in modernity. Recent R&D conducted by PalmFil consortium demonstrates the potential of date palm fiber; its use in the modern context and in industrial settings. Revival of the fiber sector in the Middle East will need dedication and national commitment. The use of date palm fiber is not the issue. The use of most natural materials like the date palm fiber contribute towards maintaining biodiversity, provide employment and income and enable sustainable development in general. However, the key to its revival will be the national will and support to encourage the development of a reliable supply chain that can service the various production sectors that could use the fiber." Dr. Ahmed Hassanin, partner, PalmFil Consortium, comments...

Wet wipes producer Nice-Pak announced that it has generated data showing its products (EPA Reg. No. 9480-5) demonstrated efficacy against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Nice-Pak’s wipes are sold under the Grime Boss brand, as well as many popular private labels. The testing was conducted in early May by Microbac, a premier testing laboratory that offers antimicrobial/antiviral testing for disinfectants, antiseptics, sanitizers and medical devices, and was completed in line with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) test methods and guidelines. The data will be sent to the EPA for review and approval. If approved, Nice-Pak will update its products’ labels, providing consumers with a proven effective solution to kill the SARS-CoV-2 virus, when used according to label instructions. “As the world continues to face the Covid-19 crisis – and as Americans start to reopen businesses and public spaces – effective cleaning and hygiene solutions will remain essential,” says Jim Dalton, vice president and head of Research & Development, Nice-Pak. “These positive test results support Nice-Pak’s mission and commitment to protect consumers from harmful pathogens and help keep them clean and healthy.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other health agencies and officials continue to recommend cleaning surfaces followed by disinfection (using EPA’s List N: Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2) as a best practice measure to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 in households and community settings. Frequent disinfection of surfaces and objects touched by multiple people is important, and can be easily done with a wipe product. “Today’s announcement marks a critical step forward as we learn how to control and mitigate the SARS-CoV-2 virus to keep our communities safe,” says Robert Julius, chief executive officer, Nice-Pak. “We look forward to working closely with the EPA as they review these important data, while continuing our ongoing efforts to meet the increased demand for wipes.” Nice-Pak’s sister-company, PDI, announced its Super Sani-Cloth wipes, the No. 1 disinfecting wipe in healthcare, are effective against SARS-CoV-2. The data has been submitted to the EPA for review. This is one of several of the company's hospital-grade disinfecting products being tested for efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 for submission to the EPA for approval. Testing of the additional disinfecting products is still underway and results are expected in the upcoming months. According to the data, the wipes demonstrated a 3-log reduction against the virus. The wipes were tested in compliance with "Disinfectants for Use on Environmental Surfaces, Guidance for Efficacy Testing," the EPA's threshold for deeming a disinfectant effective. "This was an important step in furthering our mission to protect patients and those on the front lines of preventing the transmission of Covid-19," says Sean Gallimore, senior vice president and general manager...

The Oerlikon Nonwoven plant can produce meltblown fabrics for 500 million masks per year, along with other medical and non-medical grade products, filtration products, sanitary items, antiseptic wipes and more. Rainer Straub, head of Oerlikon Nonwoven, says: “We are very proud that we can now for the first time supply our Oerlikon Nonwoven meltblown technology to Australia. Due to the short delivery time, we hope to make our contribution to the Australian population and their safe sup-ply of high-quality protective masks as soon as possible.” OZ Health Plus director Darren Fooks says: “Australia has access to raw polypropylene feedstock but lacks the plant to convert that raw material to specialized spunbond and meltblown fabrics. These fabrics are essential for local mask manufacturing. The Australian-based Oerlikon Nonwoven plant will fill the production chain gap for Australia by producing the fabrics we need for mask production and many other products – it will reduce Australia’s protective mask supply chain from thousands of kilometers, to tens of kilometers.” “Our decision in favor of Oerlikon Nonwoven was a given once we had analyzed the material samples. It was a matter of course for us that the Business Unit of the Oerlikon Manmade Fibers segment could supply high-quality machines and systems,” adds Fooks. OZ Health Plus’ new facilities will take up 15,000 m2 of manufacturing space and will employ 100 full-time roles once the second stage of the project is complete. OZ Health Plus continues to work with both Queensland and Federal Government stakeholders and values their support in bringing this vital capability to Queensland. Oerlikon Nonwoven meltblown technology, which can also be used to produce nonwovens for protective masks, is recognized in the market as the technically most efficient method of producing high-separation filter media from plastic fibers. Most of the protective mask capacities available in Europe to date are produced on Oerlikon Nonwoven equipment. 07.07.20 Queensland company OZ Health Plus will establish Australia’s first manufacturing plant to make the critical fine plastic material used in most protective face masks. OZ Health Plus has purchased a plant of the Swiss-based technology company Oerlikon to establish a Queensland-based production plant for spunbond and meltblown nonwovens. These fabrics are essential for Australia’s face mask manufacturers, who currently produce about 500 million medical and industrial masks per year. However the fabrics have to be imported from overseas and access to these materials has been severely disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Oerlikon’s German-based business unit Oerlikon Nonwoven has now executed legal and commercial arrangements to supply the specialized machinery which can manufacture the nonwoven material locally. The same machinery is used to make almost all face masks material manufactured in Europe. The world-leading Oerlikon Nonwoven meltblown plant will commenc...

Diaper Testing International, a laboratory in Houston, TX, specializing in testing and consulting services for the absorbent personal hygiene industry, announced the release of US Walmart Report: All Good and Rascal + Friends. Readers will gain insight into the two new Walmart exclusive baby diaper brands that have made their way to the aisles of the U.S.’s biggest retailer. The report will provide context into these new brands including: Photos of their packaging, relative price per unit, and value proposition to consumers Diaper core performance benchmarks including rewet, speed and capacity and comparing against the range and average of 17 brands in the U.S. market Estimated GSM of various nonwoven components compared to the U.S. benchmark Close up photos with 40X magnification of nonwoven and hook & loop components of each brand The free report is available at: https://diapertesting.com/walmart-update-report/.

Over 1300 business and product developers converged at Chicago’s Navy Pier for the inaugural edition of FiltXPO, North America’s only exhibition and technical conference dedicated exclusively to filtration and separation products and processes. Well over 100 exhibitors (several exhibitors from China had to withdraw due to the COVID-19 situation) displayed their products and services to an inquisitive crowd that included many first-time attendees, and the concurrent Technical Conference featured seven distinct sessions and 31 outstanding presenters during the three-day event Feb. 26-28. Many exhibitors praised the high-quality interactions they had with senior-level decision makers they met on the floor for the first time. These new acquaintances were seriously looking for new materials and solutions to current design challenges they are facing. “The ability to forge new connections with first-time attendees in new business areas provided strong value that will generate high returns,” says Doug Brown, president, Biax-Fiberfilm. New technologies featured on the FiltXPO show floor included: TSI International demonstrated automated filter testers Albarrie representatives discussed new designs and presented fabric samples for air and liquid filtration Ahlstrom-Munksjö shared their new approaches on protecting the environment and people with its industrial filtration offerings Air Techniques International tested filter media on site for efficiency and resistance The Technical Conference, chaired by Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Ph.D., associate dean at North Carolina State University and executive director of its Nonwovens Institute, featured sessions on Biopharmaceutical Filtration, Membrane Filtration, Air & Gas Filtration, Nanofiber Filter Media, Water Filtration, Macro/Nano Modeling and Separation & Filter Media Technology. Conference attendees were impressed with the caliber and content of the speaking professionals. The two-day Filter Media Training Course, conducted by Chris Plotz, director of Education & Technical Affairs at INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, drew the maximum of 35 attendees who were extremely pleased with the level and quality of the instruction provided. FiltXPO replaces the International Filtration Expo and Conference, which was organized annually by INDA for 27 consecutive years and, in the later years, alternated between Chicago and Philadelphia. FiltXPO is intended to be broader in scope, covering separation and membrane technologies, processes, and equipment. FiltXPO will be fixed in location at the Navy Pier in Chicago and take place every 18 months, with the next edition taking place October 12-14, 2021. 

02.28.20 By ordinance entering into force on February 28, 2020 at 10 a.m., the Swiss Federal Council has prohibited all events bringing together more than 1,000 people. In the current circumstances, the situation is qualified as a force majeure event. As a result, taking into account the negative evolution of the situation, INDEX20 is postponed to October 20-23, 2020. The situation has recently significantly deteriorated with the appearance of the first confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Switzerland. The organizers had no other choice than to review their assessment of the situation and to act in strict compliance with the ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council.  “We sincerely regret this situation, as large numbers of people around the world have invested in ensuring that the event takes place. However, the well-being and health of all INDEX exhibitors, visitors, and exhibition staff, as well as their business needs and expectations, remain our highest priority. We trust that all participants will understand this forced decision,” says Pierre Wiertz, EDANA general manager. The world continues to discover the important role of nonwovens in protecting healthcare staff and patients through medical devices and personal protective equipment, such as surgical masks, respirators, gowns, drapes and coveralls. It is of course unfortunate that the biggest nonwovens trade show ever, with over 730 exhibitors and covering 24,700m2, has had to be postponed because of the largest epidemic in decades. PALEXPO and EDANA remain at disposal for any further information. Please consult www.indexnonwovens.com and www.edana.org for any updates.