#INDEX 20

2021-10-18

Living Nonwovens: Reifenhäuser Reicofil exhibits sustainable nonwovens at INDEX

Living Nonwovens: Reifenhäuser Reicofil stands for best-quality nonwovens, a wide range of applications, and innovative production processes for sustainable products. Photo: Reifenhäuser

Reifenhäuser Reicofil will exhibit at the world's leading nonwovens trade show INDEX in Geneva (booth 2531) from October 19 to 22, 2021. Under the slogan "Living Nonwovens", the nonwoven line specialist will showcase solutions for the production of sustainable nonwovens for a wide range of applications.

"Nonwovens often accompany us from the first to the last day of our lives. In diapers, face masks or air filters, the material contributes to our well-being, safety, and comfort. Nonwovens are close to our skin so they deserve only the highest quality. This is what we stand for, this is what we live for," explains Markus Müller, Sales Director at Reifenhäuser Reicofil. "We also assist our customers to sustainably produce nonwovens from biobased raw materials or recycled material to leverage the global shift in sustainability as an opportunity."

Customers use Reicofil technology to produce nonwovens from biobased raw materials, for example for use in diapers. Photo: Reifenhäuser

In fact, sustainable nonwoven production starts with the amount of material used - the less raw material needed, the better. The "Reicofil 5x" line series is specialized in this application and achieves fabric weights of 8 gsm (grams per square meter) or even less through efficient downgauging, even on 1000 m/min Composite lines containing 3 Spunbond beams.

In addition, Reicofil customers can reduce the use of fossil raw materials on request by processing biobased raw materials as an ecological alternative - for example for diapers. The topsheet material, made of bulky, soft, and industrially compostable high-loft nonwovens, meets maximum hygiene requirements at the same time.

For industrial applications, high-strength nonwovens can be processed even from up to 90% PET flakes from post-consumer waste. This is how Reicofil shows perfect ways to combine sustainability and high-performance nonwovens.

The latest machine generation RF5 sets benchmarks in terms of quality, performance, availability, efficiency, and machine intelligence. Photo: Reifenhäuser

In the medical sector, the line manufacturer will also be exhibiting its leading solutions for high-barrier medical protective clothing. In addition, meltblown nonwovens for face masks - still in great demand in many regions due to Covid - provide reliable safety and are helping to combat the pandemic worldwide. Reicofil technology therefore guarantees maximum safety, with filtration efficiencies of up to 99% (N99 / FFP3 standard), minimum quality fluctuations, and extremely high line availability at the same time.

With the current RF5 machine generation, Reicofil also sets benchmarks in terms of quality, performance, availability, efficiency, and machine intelligence - for challenging applications in hygiene, medical, and industrial sectors.

Reifenhäuser wins German Design Award for new user interface

At K 2025 in Düsseldorf, the Reifenhäuser Group unveiled its new company-wide machine user interface, which offers a uniform design language for blown film, flat film, and nonwoven lines – and stands out for its particularly simple operation. The overall concept impressed not only customers, but also the jury of the German Design Awards, who honored the system with the prestigious design prize during the trade fair.

Reifenhäuser NEXT: Tackling the skills shortage and achieving operational excellence with industrial AI

At K 2025, the Reifenhäuser Group will demonstrate Industrial AI's full potential for productivity in plastics processing. At the heart of the dedicated “Reifenhäuser NEXT” brand is a powerful AI chatbot that enables even inexperienced line operators to quickly solve complex tasks in their daily work, thereby maximizing availability, productivity, and quality.

Reifenhäuser strengthens field service operations in the Middle East and Africa

Reifenhäuser Group, a global leader in plastics extrusion technology, announces a significant expansion of its field service operations across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. Building on a longstanding presence in the region, which includes a sales office established in United Arab Emirates five years ago, Reifenhäuser is now taking a major step forward to enhance its local customer support and service capabilities.

Heimtextil 2026 strengthens the global home textile industry with trends, designs and AI technologies

With an optimised hall layout, progressive design collaborations, inspiring trends and AI-driven innovations, Heimtextil 2026 reacts to the current market situation – and offers the industry a reliable constant in challenging times. Under the motto ‘Lead the Change’, the leading trade fair for home and contract textiles and textile design shows how challenges can be turned into opportunities. From 13 to 16 January, more than 3,100 exhibitors from 65 countries will provide a comprehensive market overview with new collections and textile solutions. As a knowledge hub, Heimtextil delivers new strategies and concrete solutions for future business success.

A circular European value chain turns post-consumer textile waste into new garments for Dutch retailer Zeeman

A closed-loop recycling project has successfully transformed 24 tons of post-consumer textiles into nearly 50,000 garments for Dutch retailer Zeeman, with each product containing a high-rate of 70% recycled content. This achievement represents a major milestone in accelerating textile-to-textile recycling in Europe.