Prognostication on Nonwovens in the Coming Year

One is often asked as a new year begins, what do you see on the horizon for the coming year? At INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics industry, we are asked more specifically what we see occurring in the markets for nonwovens, filtration and fibers. There are a number of challenges and opportunities on the horizon including potential logistic and supply chain issues, legislative changes, regulatory challenges, and market shifts.

Supply Chain

Issues pertaining to logistics and supply chain are largely the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Manufacturers of nonwovens installed or took commitments to install significant capacity globally, particular for melt blown nonwovens used in medical applications. Additionally, capacity was added, debottlenecked, or optimized for both the substrates and converted finished goods for disinfecting wipes. While demand has not dropped back to pre-pandemic levels, there has been a sig- nificant softening in demand and increasing availability of imported nonwovens and finished goods. In some cases, there is appreciable on-hand inventory of both nonwovens and finished goods. While manufacturers are adjusting manufacturing strategy – decommissioning older, less efficient assets and rebalancing supply chains, there continues to be significant pressure as imports are increasingly available and at lower landed costs than during the pandemic.

Container prices from Asia, which climbed to unheard of levels during the peak of the pandemic, have significantly decreased. Asian manufacturers added significant capacity to meet pandemicdriven demand, much as their counterparts in North America and Europe did. All are aggressively searching for outlets for this added manufacturing and converting capacity. Potential logistic challenges, such as railroad strikes, have been mitigated and avoided by intercession of the government. Taken together, these factors make for a very competitive nonwoven supply environment. Certainly,

As director of education and technical affairs, Matt presents regular training related to nonwovens and filter media from INDA’s headquarters in Cary, NC.

For more information about upcoming training opportunities, visit inda.org/education there will be additional decommissioning or mothballing of assets put into place solely to meet pandemic driven demand. This is likely to be especially true for companies that added technologies not central to their core capabilities.

Pressure for Plastics Changes

On the legislative front, there is growing pressure for government intervention around so-called single-use plastics. Shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic commenced, the EU issued the Directive on Single-Use Plastics which attempts to reduce the amount of renegade plastics in the environment from ten products categories:

• Cotton bud sticks

• Cutlery, plates, straws and stirrers

• Balloons and sticks for balloons

• Food containers

• Cups for beverages

• Beverage containers

• Cigarette butts

• Plastic bags

• Packets and wrappers

• Wet wipes and sanitary items

Where sustainable alternatives are easily available and affordable, single-use plastic products cannot be placed on the markets of EU Member States. This applies to cotton bud sticks, cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers, and sticks for balloons. It will also apply to cups, food and beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene, and on all products made of oxo-degradable plastic. For other single-use plastic products, the EU is focusing on limiting their use through:

• Reducing consumption through awareness-raising measures;

• Introducing design requirements, such as a requirements to connect caps to bottles;

• Introducing labelling requirements, to inform consumers about the plastic content of products, disposal options that are to be avoided, and harm done to nature if the products are littered in the environment; and,

• Introducing waste management and clean-up obligations for producers, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes.

The European approach has been noted by U.S. municipal, state, and federal level legislators. While it has not yet resulted in similar bans for nonwoven containing products, a blanket reapplication of the European approach would have significant impact upon consumer and manufacturers of wet wipes and sanitary items. To some extent, the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted momentum in this direction and also created time for alternative nonwoven raw materials to gain traction.

It is safe to say, that there is not a nonwoven conference or event that does not have a significant focus on naturally sourced fibers, biodegradable fibers and nonwovens, and/or circular economy elements such as advanced recycling. This has certainly been true at the World of Wipes, RISE, and Hygienix con- ferences hosted by INDA in 2022. Additionally, the pandemic slowed momentum towards blanket legislative proscription of single-use plastics, as it has been noted and publicized that many of the wipes, masks, gowns, and drapes endemic to the pandemic response are indeed single-use plastics. But, as legislative and regulatory activities resume, there is more opportunity to provide a tailored response that protects those sub-categories of single-use plastics that are critical to public health and wellbeing. INDA is actively coordinating efforts to support logical and fact-based responses to these challenges.

Air Quality Concerns

A second regulatory initiative that is impacting some of the nonwoven industry is the rapid actions being taken to limit and/ or eliminate use of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). These chemicals are commonly used as treatments on nonwovens to prevent staining and penetration of hazardous substances. There are in excess of 15,000 different Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances encountered in the market today. Due to the almost unique nature of the incredibly stable carbon-fluorine bonds, these substances are exceptionally durable in the environment and have gained the reputations as being “forever chemicals.”