#Sustainability

2021-09-30

Suominen shifting to fossil-free electricity in Europe

As part of Suominen's active work to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the nonwovens producer shifting entirely to fossil-free electricity in all its European plants. “This shift is one of the measures we are taking to reduce our GHG emissions in the future,” says Juan Carlos Esteve, Director, HSEQ.

Sustainability is at the core of Suominen's strategy. Suominen aims to reduce its energy and water consumption, landfill waste, and greenhouse gas emissions respectively by 20% per ton of product by 2025, compared to the base year of 2019. In 2020, the greenhouse gas emissions of the company decreased by 14.9% per ton of product.

Suominen is constantly looking for various ways to decrease the greenhouse gas emissions from its operations. “The shift towards sustainable energy sources is a huge step forward for us, but other measures remain important as well. For example, improvements in the energy efficiency have a direct impact on our emissions,” Esteve explains.

Reducing the environmental impact of its operations ensures that Suominen can offer more sustainable products to its customers. “By shifting to fossil-free electricity sources, we can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our products. As part of our sustainability work, we are calculating the carbon footprint of our nonwovens as well as corporate level emissions annually,” says Noora Rantanen, Sustainability and Marketing Manager.

Suominen has a long history of developing products that combine sustainability, quality, and performance. Suominen’s sustainable product portfolio combines their nonwovens with the lowest environmental impacts. The portfolio consists of products made of renewable, recycled and/or plastic-free raw materials as well as compostable and totally dispersible nonwovens suitable for every purpose.

Suominen launches three-year profitability improvement program and introduces new operating model and leadership team

Suominen is launching a three-year program to improve the company’s profitability. The Full Potential Program targets 10% EBITDA by 2028. Suominen is also introducing a new functional operating model, with a dedicated focus on customers and factories, designed to strengthen expertise and effectiveness.

Suominen reports weaker 2025 results amid market pressure and US supply incidents; no dividend proposed

Suominen Corporation has published its unaudited Financial Statements Release for January 1–December 31, 2025, describing the year as an “unsatisfactory performance in a challenging environment”. Net sales and profitability declined year-on-year, reflecting lower volumes, adverse currency effects and intensified competition, while the company points to two significant incidents at its US facilities that constrained supply and weighed on both sales and profitability in the third and fourth quarters.

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.

Jeanologia urges industry to accelerate PP Spray phase-out following ZDHC Watchlist update

Potassium permanganate has officially entered the Chemical Watchlist of the ZDHC Foundation, signaling increased scrutiny and potential phase-out of one of the most hazardous chemicals still used in denim finishing. The inclusion confirms an industry shift that Jeanologia anticipated more than a decade ago.

Global Standard strengthens presence in Southeast Asia at VIATT 2026

Global Standard will participate in the Vietnam International Trade Fair for Apparel, Textiles and Textile Technologies (VIATT) 2026, organized by Messe Frankfurt, the first textile trade show in the APAC region this year. Global Standard will host a booth and Felica Shi will lead a seminar on Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). The trade fair will take place from February 26 to 28, 2026, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

VAUDE eliminates PFAS from all products

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are now detectable worldwide – in drinking water, soil and the human body. These so-called “forever chemicals” are considered hazardous to health and potentially carcinogenic, as they do not break down and remain in the environment permanently. Despite these risks, PFAS are still used in a wide range of products. More than 15 years ago, VAUDE made a strategic decision to gradually eliminate PFAS from all product categories.

Hybris Productions scales licensed apparel production moving from screen to digital with Kornit Digital

Kornit Digital, a global pioneer in sustainable, on-demand digital fashion and textile production technologies, today announced that Hybris Productions has adopted Kornit’s direct-to-garment (DTG) digital production technology to scale licensed apparel manufacturing with greater speed, design flexibility, and on-demand production capabilities supporting retail and e-commerce growth.

Rieter advances strategic repositioning amid market volatility

Rieter successfully completed the acquisition of Barmag on February 2, 2026, and reached an important milestone in the company’s repositioning. Barmag will be integrated into the Rieter Group as the “Man-Made Fiber” Division. With this strategically transformative acquisition, Rieter is expanding its core business beyond the short-staple fiber business in a targeted way. This positions Rieter as the global market leader along the entire value chain for natural and man-made fibers. In addition, as a complete systems supplier, Rieter is further strengthening its technological leadership in the areas of automation and digitization.

Fabolose: Fabricating vegan and circular leather alternatives from bio-tech-derived cellulose

Fabulose is an EU funded project coordinated by the German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research (DITF). Its consortium consists of leading research institutes, biotech innovators, and industry stakeholders who aim to create high-performance, biobased and recyclable leather-like fabrics, using efficient biotech production routes for bacterial cellulose, cyanophycin and bacterial pigments