#Associations

2026-01-22

INDA announces future dates and locations for FiltXPO™ and IDEA® events

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, announced the future dates and locations for its FiltXPO™ and IDEA® events, reaffirming its long-term commitment to serving the global filtration, nonwovens, and engineered materials communities.

As part of this announcement, INDA confirmed that IDEA®, its flagship conference and exhibition, will return to its traditional three-year cycle following IDEA®27. While IDEA®27 will take place two years after the most recent IDEA® in 2025, this two-year timing is a one-time occurrence. INDA will maintain its long-standing cadence and value for this event moving forward. IDEA®27 will take place March 23-25, 2027 in Kansas City, Missouri.

IDEA® is the largest nonwovens and engineered materials exhibition in the Americas, bringing together global industry leaders, innovators, and decision-makers. In addition to the exhibition, IDEA® features a robust conference program that addresses key industry hot topics, with a strong emphasis on sustainability, market trends, and emerging technologies.

FiltXPO™ is a conference and exhibition focused exclusively on the filtration industry. The technical conference program delivers in-depth insights into filtration science, applications, and advancements, while the exhibition provides a comprehensive showcase of innovations across the full spectrum of air, water, gas, and oil filtration components and technologies. FiltXPO™ 2026 will be held October 28-29, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Future Dates and Locations

FiltXPO™ 2028

March 29–30, 2028

Charlotte Convention Center

Charlotte, North Carolina

IDEA®30

March 26–29, 2030

George R. Brown Convention Center

Houston, Texas

FiltXPO™ 2030 (Co-located with IDEA®30)

March 26–29, 2030

George R. Brown Convention Center

Houston, Texas

The co-location of FiltXPO™ and IDEA®30 in 2030 will provide expanded opportunities for cross-industry engagement, knowledge exchange, business development across the filtration and nonwoven sectors, and synergies for both exhibitors and visitors.

INDA honors four industry leaders with 2026 Lifetime Service and Technical Achievement Awards

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, has announced the four distinguished recipients of the 2026 INDA Lifetime Service Award and Lifetime Technical Achievement Award. Tom Daugherty, Pricie Hanna, Carey Hobbs, and CK Wong are being recognized for their exceptional leadership, innovation, and enduring contributions to advancing the nonwovens industry and strengthening the global community it serves.

Global Nonwovens Alliance unveils Inaugural Board, advancing collaboration and growth worldwide

The Global Nonwovens Alliance (GNA), a tax-exempt federation jointly founded by INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, and EDANA, the Voice of Nonwovens, announces the appointment of its founding Board of Directors. This group of leaders represents some of the most influential executives across the nonwovens value chain and reflects GNA’s mission to foster global collaboration, innovation, and growth in the industry.

VDMA members at Techtextil: Smart technologies for technical textiles

At Techtextil 2026 in Frankfurt, the members of VDMA Textile Machinery underline their key role as global technology leaders for technical textiles and textile processing. With a strong presence of more than 50 members they will highlight how engineering excellence, innovation strength and sustainability expertise from Germany and Europe are shaping the future of the textile industry. Seven companies will be present at the VDMA group stand in the centre of hall 12.0.

Between geopolitical pressure and industrial resilience

In this interview, Dr. Janpeter Horn (VDMA) discusses the current challenges facing textile machinery manufacturers, shaped by geopolitical tensions, regulatory developments and subdued investment. He also outlines why innovation strength, integrated solutions and strategic positioning remain key to global competitiveness.

Europe is losing its textile industry

EURATEX has released its latest Economic Update on the performance of the European textile and apparel industry in 2025. For the third consecutive year, the sector recorded negative results across all key indicators — production, turnover and employment — confirming a continued erosion of competitiveness across Europe.

ECCO introduces first shoe featuring innovative protein-based fibre

ECCO, in partnership with Spinnova, announces the launch of the limited edition ECCO BIOM® 720, a first-of-its-kind shoe utilising an often overlooked leather by-product, transformed into a protein-based fibre. The fibres are produced using patented technology that advances material innovation while reducing waste and supporting full resource use across the leather and textile industry.

The LYCRA Company strengthens sustainability leadership, appoints Alistair Williamson as VP of Product Sustainability

The LYCRA Company has appointed longtime executive Alistair Williamson as vice president of product sustainability, reaffirming its commitment to developing sustainable solutions for apparel and personal care products. In this role, he will guide the company’s next chapter of sustainability strategy and oversee all initiatives aimed at reducing environmental impact across products, operations, and innovation platforms.