Every day, consumers come into contact with nonwoven materials since they are used to make reusable bags, facemasks, cosmetic wipes, and garments. This material’s simplicity is the reason for its appeal. A form of cloth known as a nonwoven is created by mashing together short and long fibers to create a flexible surface. Although felt is one of the earliest and most basic forms of nonwoven fabric, its variety has increased dramatically over the last 50 years.
One of the three production techniques—chemical bonding, heat treatment, or mechanical pressing—is responsible for the fibers in nonwovens sticking together. Nonwovens have specific physical characteristics that make them perfect in certain applications since their fibers are not kept together by intricately knitted or woven patterns.
Furthermore, since there is no requirement for yarn input during the production process and no intricate weaving procedures, nonwovens are less expensive to produce than their knitted or woven equivalents.
The low weight of nonwovens is another physical attribute that contributes to their appeal. For instance, they are less bulky and heavy when used as packing than woven or knit materials, providing for more effective storage and lower fuel expenses during transit.
Additionally, nonwovens effectively shield their contents from microbes. A research conducted back in 2015 even showed that the percentage of packed operational instruments that required resterilization after storage was decreased when nonwoven materials were used instead of woven ones. For this reason, emergency services, medical, and healthcare settings always choose to wear protective garments made of this lightweight, inexpensive material.
In the past, the only use of nonwovens in clothing was as an inside layer of reinforcement for collars and cuffs. Nonwovens were first used in clothing as stiff inside linings, but their uses in fashion expanded over time to include exterior garment components. These days, clothing producers employ it not just to make coats more shape-retaining and rigid, but also to make the linings on the front.
Technological advancements, notably the creation of nonwovens with greater flexibility like DuPont’s Inova and PGI’s Miratec and Evolon, were the driving force behind the trend of employing nonwovens in outer layers of garments.
Modern nonwovens are perfect for many kinds of clothing applications because of their low weight, elasticity, and insulation; nevertheless, athletic and outdoor performance clothes benefit greatly from their use. Tyvek from DuPont is an excellent example of a nonwoven material for heavy-duty clothing because it provides an outer layer that is wind- and water-resistant.
In addition to providing nonwovens for apparel applications, several businesses also have product lines for other industries and applications. For instance, Freudenberg Performance Materials is one of the largest producers of this kind of cloth. It manufactures the material for use as construction materials, filtration, hygiene, and medical equipment in addition to nonwovens for clothes and shoes.
The Pandemic’s Impact on Demand
The nonwoven sector received a significant boost from the COVID-19 epidemic. Global demand for sterilised consumer items in the areas of personal care, medical personal protective equipment (PPE), and hygiene increased dramatically starting in 2019. Nonwoven materials are inexpensive to make, lightweight, and disposable, making them the perfect choice for various uses.
Beginning in 2019, wipes emerged as the nonwoven industry’s most in-demand application. Naturally, there was also a great demand for nonwoven PPE, to the point that some textile firms converted their pre-existing production lines to produce additional face masks and medical supplies.
Perhaps the most enduring consequence of this pandemic spike is that nonwoven producers now possess the capacity and know-how to satisfy expanding demand from other markets, even as the need for medical products declines.
Sustainability Issues
But the need for this multipurpose material during the epidemic also made waste and environmental pollution issues worse and more apparent.
Nonwoven materials are often used for single-use items, packaging, PPE, hygiene and medical dressings, and single-use applications because of their relatively limited lifetime when compared to knitted or woven textiles.
The material’s environmental issues brought the epidemic into sharper perspective. Hospitals naturally produce a significant quantity of trash in the form of medical textiles, but this will only increase after 2020.
Healthcare professionals need to use disposable equipment to avoid infections, but more and more of them are looking for biodegradable alternatives to help with the growing waste issue.
An industry focused on biodegradable nonwovens has enormous potential. Numerous types of fibers, including those derived from organic feedstock, may be used to create nonwoven fabrics. Nonwoven fibers may currently be made from a variety of organic feedstocks, including cotton and more unusual materials like chitin, a substance present in seashells. These biodegradable substitutes for petrochemical fibers are a good choice. Benost was among the first companies to market nonwovens made of chitin.
However, in a market where easily accessible, low-cost petrochemical plastic fibers dominate, biodegradable nonwovens are still relatively new. Synthetic materials make up around 66% of the material utilized in nonwovens. For this reason, the majority of nonwoven products on the market today cannot decompose in the environment quickly or safely.
Nonwoven applications for clothes are often not one-time uses, in contrast to medical applications. In fact, nonwoven materials are often essential to a piece of clothing’s longevity.
However, there’s a movement in fashion right now to switch out petrochemical nonwovens for more environmentally friendly options. Concerns over the use of synthetic nonwoven in apparel follow a larger movement toward using more environmentally friendly materials in lieu of materials derived from fossil fuels, such as rayon, polyester, polypropylene, and polyamide (nylon).
Renewable Nonwovens: Using Plants Doesn’t Always Mean It’s Greener
A more widespread transition to renewable nonwovens is likely, at least in certain areas. For instance, the textile sector is discovering that it has to investigate bio-based and recycled substitutes in response to legislative initiatives like the European Union’s Single Use Plastic guidelines.
Producers that have historically focused only on petrochemical nonwovens are beginning to expand into more environmentally friendly product lines. Turkish manufacturer Mogul expanded their portfolio of sustainable products in 2022 by introducing renewable and biobased nonwovens, such as a polyester that is 100% biobased and degrades to 93.8% in 646 days in an accelerated landfill.
Nonwoven fibers are not necessarily more environmentally friendly, yet, just because they are made of plants does not always translate into less carbon emissions or waste. While some modern nonwovens use the fibers of bio-based plastics, the majority of bio-plastics available on the market break down under very particular industrial circumstances provided by specialized recycling facilities.
The PLA This includes ingeo fiber, which is biobased yet takes a long time to biodegrade in the environment. This substance is a polymer even though it is made of corn maize; its molecular structure is similar to that of regular polyester or polypropylene polymers.
Emerging Recycled and Compostable Options
However, the carbon profile of synthetic nonwovens may still be enhanced. Nonwovens may come from recycled plastics even in cases where they are manufactured from fibers derived from petrochemicals. Once again, Mogul has advanced in this field. In 2022, it said that it will be using a branded material called Repreve by Unifi, which is manufactured from waste polyester, such as plastic bottles. Since recycled materials already account for more than 30% of all polyester fiber used in Europe, other nonwoven producers have a pretty easy time switching to this supply chain.
Smaller businesses are in the midst of developing totally biodegradable nonwoven materials. Bast Fibre Tech uses feedstock including hemp, jute, and kenaf to make 100% plant-based natural fibers that are suitable for nonwoven applications and totally biodegradable.
In this field, collaborations between niche bio-based companies and established players are also becoming more common. One example is the joint venture between Swedish startup Blue Ocean Closures and international packaging and recycling giant ALPLA Group, which develops natural fiber-based closures.
Here’s what next
The trend of fashion seems to be staying away from petrochemicals. Cutting the carbon footprint of this ubiquitous substance by transitioning to organic feedstocks will be the biggest challenge moving forward, especially in light of the growing need for sustainable materials in other significant nonwoven industries like building and medical care.
Well-known nonwoven producers are already becoming more and more interested in bio-based alternatives. This monitors the broader trend of bio-based plastics, which is predicted to expand at a 14 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2022 to 2027. But bio-based nonwovens have a significantly lower market share to begin with, so they still have a long way to go before they can completely replace fossil derivatives.
The larger rate of bio-plastics scaling will determine the need for renewable nonwovens. This is going to be essential for providing nonwoven textile manufacturers with less expensive inputs so that their green goods can compete on pricing.
