Extrusion Group™, LLC

Daio Paper Corporation, one of Japan’s leading paper and hygienic disposables manufacturers, is to build a new diaper manufacturing plant in Thailand.
The plant, scheduled for start-up next year, will produce between 16 and 18 million diapers on a monthly basis and will require an investment of Yen 3 billion.
The company estimates the current demand for baby diapers in South East Asia to be between 400-500 million a month, with strong growth prospects of 10% or more per year.
Products from the new Thai plant will be exported to Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and India, in addition to the domestic Thai market.
Daio Paper, which has overall annual sales of Yen 400 billion, expects the new plant to bosst the sales of its home and personal care division to an  annual Yen 160 billion – up 20% on its current performance – by 2013.

SOURCE: Nonwovens Live

Walmart’s International Supplier of the Year award is determined by several key performance indicators that measure variables such as sales performance, inventory metrics and delivery rates. Kimberly-Clark significantly outperformed on almost every indicator and was the only supplier selected for the achievement.

“This award recognizes the strategic alignment of our teams with Walmart around the world,” said John Scholes, vice president, Walmart International Development at Kimberly-Clark. “This global award was earned for achieving business goals over a sustained period, and every country played their part. It was a real team effort, and we are delighted to be recognized for our efforts.” Mr. Scholes and Steve Jones, Walmart International Business Manager at Kimberly-Clark, received the award on behalf of the company.

This is the second award Kimberly-Clark has received from Walmart in 2010. Kimberly-Clark Brazil was also honored with Walmart Brazil’s “Sustainability Award” for providing the retailer a 100 percent recycled bath tissue under the leading brand Neve Naturali.

SOURCE: NONWOVENS INDUSTRY

Italian roofing insulation specialist Freudenberg Politex has invested $1.6m to install a new geotextile nonwovens line at its plant in Zavolzhie, in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region.

The plant’s second line, producing material for the firm’s ‘Drenotex’ geotextile products to a capacity of more than 3,000 tpa, began operating in July 2010. At the same time, the Novedrate, Italy-based firm has increased its local workforce by 10.

The line, which uses raw material from post-consumer PET waste, recycled by Freudenberg Politex, turns out material 6 metres wide in a range of 100g/m2 to 800g/m2. This fabric is destined to be used as geotextile for various construction and hydraulic engineering applications such as road reinforcement, ground drainage and for an anti-contamination layer in waste landfill sites, the company stated.

This investment is part of an expansion programme being pursued by the firm after its success in the all-important Russian market.

Demand in Russia for innovative materials and technologies, has led Freudenberg Politex to introduce a range of new products there including geogrids and composite materials for drainage and construction works, roads and railways.

The Italian firm, part of Germany’s Weinheim-based Freudenberg industrial group, has developed its business from supplying nonwoven reinforcement for bituminous roofing membranes, to new applications like thermal and sound insulation in construction, and padding in furniture and clothing.

Freudenberg Politex was a leading player in the Russian nonwovens market prior to the launch of its Nizhny Novgorod facility in 2006.

SOURCE: GOOGLE NEWS

Norafin GmbH is exploring the use of flax fiber for spunlaced nonwoven constructions including composites for a range of technical applications.

N orafin GmbH — a Switzerland-based developer and manufacturer of durable spunlaced, needlepunched and composite nonwoven fabrics for applications such as apparel, automotive, filtration, industrial, medical, roofing and other applications — has begun developing spunlaced and spunlaced composite roll goods for applications including roofing, automotive, packaging, sports equipment and filtration. The company sees flax fiber as an environmentally responsible alternative to glass and other high-tech fibers typically used for those applications, and the spunlace process offers advantages over needlepunching, which also is used to process flax for certain applications. Flax offers other advantages as well, according to Stuart Smith, business unit manager, Norafin (Americas) Inc., Hendersonville, N.C.

“Flax and other natural fibers have the potential to address both our short-term and future needs with respect to environmental considerations,” Smith said during a presentation at the Techtextil North America Symposium earlier this year in Atlanta. In addition to natural fibers being renewable and biodegradable, he added, “on average, the production of natural fiber suitable for composites is about 60-percent lower in energy consumption than the manufacture of commonly used glass fiber.” He also noted that natural fibers produce no more carbon dioxide when incinerated than they consume while growing.

The 100-percent flax roll good shown above features Norafin’s 3D Performance® pattern, which is hydro-embossed into the structure during the spunlace process.

Compared with other natural fibers, flax offers advantages in terms of its cultivation, as it requires no special soil conditions or pesticides, and also needs less water. In terms of performance characteristics, it offers better tensile strength and modulus, and lower elongation — ranging between that of glass and aramid fibers. In addition to good tensile strength — though lower than that of glass, aramid or carbon fibers — and elongation properties, flax’s other potential advantages for composite use include vibration absorption, ultraviolet (UV) resistance, moisture retention, low density, no static charge, low relative cost, a natural resistance to insects and bacteria, and hypoallergenic properties. (more…)

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that First Quality Baby Products, LLC, a Great Neck, New York-based manufacturer of absorbent hygiene products, will modernize and expand its manufacturing presence in Bibb County.

The company plans to invest up to $200 million and bring its employee count to 375 over the coming years at the company’s Macon facilities.

“Since acquiring its manufacturing operation in Georgia in 2008, First Quality has played a significant role in the Macon business community, and in Georgia’s ever-growing advanced manufacturing sector,” said Governor Perdue.  “We are always excited to see our existing industries grow and thrive in Georgia.”

First Quality will construct a diaper manufacturing facility, with construction scheduled to begin during the fourth quarter of 2010.  First Quality’s current manufacturing operation in Macon produces multiple configurations of private label baby diapers and training pants for major retailers.  The company’s expanded Macon operation will serve markets throughout the Southeast. (more…)

Turkish nonwovens producer Gulsan is investing in a six-beam, 4.2 meter, Reicofil 4 production line with a configuration of SSXMMS to serve hygiene and medical customers, the company has announced.

The new line will be operational in the fourth quarter 2011.With the new investment, Gulsan reinforces its position as a leading manufacturer of spunmelt materials in Turkey.

SOURCE: nonwovensindustry.com

This hologram is permanently etched into metal.

Apple will build future iPhone and other gadgets from Liquidmetal, says a former top researcher at Liquidmetal Technologies, whose technology Apple is licensing.

“I think they’re going to make the iPhone out of it,” said Dr. Jan Schroers, the former director of research at Liquidmetal Technologies, the first company to commercially develop the space-age technology. ”It’s quite obvious from what Liquidmetal has done in the past and what the technology is capable of.”

Apple has signed an exclusive agreement to use the Liquidmetal Technologies’ IP in consumer electronic products. Liquidmetal is a high-strength metal that can be processed like plastic. NASA has says it is “poised to redefine materials science as we know it in the 21st century.” (more…)

Petcore has announced that European post-sorting PET collection reached 1.4 million tonnes in 2009 – an increase of more than 8% on 2008.
The overall collection rate in 2009 rose by nearly 2.5%, from 46% to 48.4%, of all PET bottles on the market.
The 2009 share of fibres as an end use for recycled PET flake, however, fell from 45% to 40%, although the tonnage remained almost the same.
The PET sheet market tonnage resumed its growth pattern from 22% to 27%. Blowmoulding continued to grow with more than 22% going to this sector in 2009. The strapping market was the hardest hit by the economic recession but still consumed 7%.
It is estimated that there is a total mechanical reclamation capacity in the European region of 1.6 million tonnes. This provides the impetus for the industry to increase the current collection rate beyond 50%.
Exports to the Far East fell slightly to 16% of collected PET and 67,000 tonnes of baled PET bottles were imported from outside the area. (more…)

A nanofibre-based polymeric battery separator that boosts the performance and safety of lithium ion batteries has been developed by DuPont.
Energain battery separators can increase power by 15 to 30%, increase battery life by up to 20% and improve battery safety by providing stability at high temperatures.
With more battery power, car drivers can travel further on a single charge and accelerate more quickly and safely. For automotive and battery manufacturers, more battery power can reduce the number of batteries typically required in today’s hybrid and electric vehicles.
The company has begun construction of a facility in Chesterfield County, Virginia. to manufacture products for development and commercial sale. (more…)

LAKE FOREST, ILL.  – He may only be the world’s 144th richest man (according to Forbes’ 2010 ranking), but New Zealand tow truck driver-turned-billionaire Graeme Hart is riding high in the plastics packaging universe.

Pactiv Corp., maker of Hefty trash bags, said Aug. 17 that it will be acquired by a division of Hart’s Rank Group Ltd. in a deal worth about $6 billion.

Reynolds Group Holdings Ltd. of Chicago — formed out of former Alcoa Inc. businesses that Rank Group acquired in 2008 — will buy Pactiv of Lake Forest, Ill.

According to an Aug. 17 news release, Reynolds Group is offering Pactiv shareholders $33.25 per share, a premium of about 39 percent more than the closing price of $23.97 on May 14, the last trading day before reports of a potential deal. (more…)