#Nonwovens / Technical Textiles

2025-04-17

Highlights from Suominen’s successful Innovating in Sustainability Seminar in Italy

Suominen hosted its Innovating in Sustainability Seminar in Arona, Italy, on March 19–20, 2025. The event brought together around 50 professionals from across the nonwovens value chain, creating a vibrant platform for in-depth discussions, knowledge sharing, and valuable networking. The seminar was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants.

Day one featured an engaging lineup of expert presentations. Dr. Anu Kettunen, Senior Expert at KCL Finland, explored novel analytics to improve storage turnover in nonwoven hygiene products.

Noora Lindberg, Director of Sustainability & Marketing at Suominen, highlighted key sustainability priorities for the industry in 2025 and beyond.

Marko Ruottinen, Sustainability Manager at Metsä Fibre Oy, addressed the role of fiber sourcing and deforestation, while Brieuc Lits, Public Affairs Director at EDANA, provided an update on the Green Claims Directive and its impact on the industry.

Further exploring bio-based innovation, Marvin Strüfing, Sales Director at UPM and Søren Tang Klint, Fibers Technical Sales Support Lead, EMEA at Indorama Ventures introduced bio-based options for replacing fossil-based materials.

Veera Vaajasalmi, Manager, Innovation and Technology at Suominen presented Suominen ReNW, a groundbreaking approach to wet wipe recycling.

The Seminar sparked valuable discussions and new ideas, driving the industry toward a more sustainable future.

On day two, participants were invited to Suominen’s site in Cressa, Italy, for a firsthand look at the innovative Carded-Pulp-Carded (CPC) manufacturing process – an exclusive opportunity that added practical insight to the seminar experience.

A sincere thank you to all our guests for your presence, enthusiasm, and thoughtful contributions. You made the event a true success!

Francois Guetat joins Suominen as COO

Francois Guetat brings over two decades of global experience in operations, supply chain, and manufacturing excellence. Most recently, he served as SVP of Integrated Supply Chain at Kalmar, where he led business across sourcing, manufacturing, logistics and strategy. His leadership has been shaped by 22 years at Volvo, where he held key roles in Sweden, USA, and Poland.

Suominen reports decline in sales and earnings – Cost savings program and leadership change to drive recovery

Finnish nonwovens manufacturer Suominen Corporation has reported a noticeable drop in both revenue and profitability for the first half of 2025, reflecting a challenging global trade environment, particularly the impact of recent U.S. tariffs, as well as persistently high energy and raw material costs.

ANDRITZ sets focus on textile recycling and durable nonwoven production technologies at ITMA Asia 2025

International technology Group ANDRITZ will be presenting its innovative nonwovens production and textile solutions at ITMA ASIA + CITME 2025 in Singapore, from October 28 to 31, 2025 (Hall 2, D106). ANDRITZ will showcase its MMCF production plants, textile sorting and recycling, bast fiber processing, needlepunch, airlay, and life-cycle service technologies, with a focus on sustainable solutions. Discover how these innovations can grow your business opportunities and support a greener future.

OUTLOOK™ 2025: Charting a sustainable and innovative future for the Nonwovens Industry

EDANA concluded its flagship event, OUTLOOK™ 2025, last week, marking it as a major success and addressing the biggest questions facing the industry. The three-day conference highlighted the urgent need for a unified approach to sustainability, regulation, and innovation in the absorbent hygiene and wipes sectors.

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.

MUNICH FABRIC START: Between Attitude and Sensuality

The future begins where we reimagine it. After seasons of restraint, Spring.Summer 27 marks a conscious counter-trend: optimism, sensuality, and creative freedom are replacing pragmatism and neutrality. Physical presence and individuality are regaining importance – as a response to uncertainty, exhaustion, and algorithmic predictability. The overarching theme of PLEASURE stands for fashion as an emotional space, as an expression of attitude and cultural reflection. Colours, surfaces, and materials become vehicles for self-confidence and joie de vivre.

organIQ seek: smart alternative to potassium permanganate

CHT Group announces new technical findings within its organIQ seek platform that significantly advance the transition toward permanganate-free denim bleaching. Through extensive industrial testing and application research, CHT confirms that organIQ seek can now be used with remarkable effectiveness as a substitute for potassium permanganate in spray bleach, while remaining aligned with sustainability expectations and cost realities in the European market. At the COLOMBIATEX in Medellín as well as at the Exintex in Puebla and the Kingpins Show in Amsterdam the CHT Group will present organIQ seek as an alternative to potassium permanganate.

PERFORMANCE DAYS: Focus topic shifts to the beginning of the value chain

Following the last Focus Topic in October 2025, which placed Textile-to-Textile Recycling at its core, PERFORMANCE DAYS continues to drive the conversation around circularity – this time with an expanded and more upstream perspective. The upcoming Focus Topic, “Textile to Textile: The Role of Collectors and Sorters,” presented during the spring edition on March 18–19, will spotlight one of the most essential yet often overlooked components of a functioning circular textile system: the efficient collection and sorting of post-consumer textiles.

Proven performance, optimised costs – the new RE 6 EL

Nowadays textile companies increasingly need to produce small production runs and respond to market changes with instantaneous pattern changes in order to operate profitably – meaning they require machines that offer maximum flexibility, reliability and cost efficiency. KARL MAYER understands the challenges of the market and is launching its new RE 6 EL. The Raschel machine offers the core strengths of the classic RSE 6 EL and essentially the same performance parameters, but has been further cost-optimised largely due to local production advantages. This makes the newcomer an efficiency champion in production, especially when it comes to frequent pattern changes.