#Associations

2026-02-26

EDANA joins industry coalition urging a strong internal market legal basis for the New Circular Economy Act

EDANA has joined 67 European industry associations in a joint industry statement calling on the European Commission and co-legislators to anchor the forthcoming New Circular Economy Act (CEA) in the Internal Market legal basis (Article 114 TFEU).

The signatories underline that Europe’s circular economy objectives cannot be met without EU-wide harmonised waste management rules, as current national frameworks remain fragmented and deliver uneven performance across Member States. This regulatory divergence continues to hinder the development of a well-functioning Single Market for secondary raw materials and creates environmental, economic and strategic risks for Europe.

The coalition urges EU institutions to maintain the Internal Market legal basis in full and to resist attempts to weaken the proposal under the pretext of flexibility, which would perpetuate legal uncertainty and slow progress towards a circular and climate-neutral economy.

Read the full statement here:

https://www.edana.org/hubfs/Joint-Industry-statement-on-CEA-Internal-Market-Legal-Basis.pdf

2025 Nonwoven production in Greater Europe: European Nonwovens Industry remains strong amid challenging market conditions

EDANA, the international association serving the nonwovens and related industries, released today the European annual statistics for 2025, offering a comprehensive picture of the nonwovens industry in Greater Europe. This information shows an overview of the industry’s strength and resilience across the region. According to the figures collected and compiled by EDANA, overall nonwovens production in Europe declined by around 2.2% in 2025, reaching 2,919,000 tonnes.

EDANA unveils nominees for INDEX™26 Awards: Highlighting the next generation of nonwoven excellence

EDANA is proud to unveil the highly anticipated nominees for the INDEX™26 Awards, the nonwoven industry’s highest accolade for technical and sustainable excellence. Out of a record-breaking field of entries, these finalists represent the cutting edge of material science—from bio-based hygiene fibers and PFAS-free protective textiles to revolutionary water-filtration machinery. Each nominee has been selected by a jury of industry experts for their ability to solve critical global challenges, including the transition to a circular economy and the pursuit of enhanced consumer performance.

INDEX™26: Pioneering highlights at the World’s leading nonwovens exhibition

INDEX™26, the World’s Leading Nonwovens Exhibition, will take place from 19 to 22 May 2026 at PALEXPO in Geneva. The upcoming edition serves as a hub for innovation, inspiration, and networking with international decision-makers, positioning itself as a cross-industry platform for exchange across all nonwoven sectors. With 600 exhibitors expected, INDEX™26 represents the entire value chain of the industry, from raw materials and machinery to producers of nonwovens, components, and converters.

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.

Speed and connectivity: Techtextil and Texprocess provided market-ready solutions for industries under pressure

With more than 36,000 visitors and 1,700 exhibitors from a total of 112 countries, Techtextil and Texprocess 2026 demonstrated how innovation comes into industrial use. The convergence of research, industry and application proved to be a breeding ground for new material solutions, manufacturing and processing technologies. Natural fibres, performance apparel, connected systems and AI-driven processing technologies emerged as key growth and future markets.

Italian Textile Machinery heads to Geneva for Index 2026

An important delegation of Italian companies will exhibit at the upcoming INDEX 2026, the world’s leading event for the nonwovens sector, taking place from May 19 to 22 in Geneva (Switzerland). Numerous Italian exhibitors will be present within the Italy Pavilion, organized by the Italian Trade Agency (ICE) and ACIMIT, an exhibition area of over 140 square meters dedicated to the latest innovations proposed by the Italian industry.