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Mr Hartmann Huth
Mr Hartmann Huth
Chairman - Staples Fibres division

Interview with Mr Hartmann Huth

High demand for protech in emerging markets in Asia have increased biz for flame retardants

Trevira GmbH is an innovative European manufacturer of high-value branded polyester fibres and filament yarns for the home textiles, automotive and apparel industries as well as for hygiene and technical applications. Two production sites and a Marketing and Sales office with a total of approx. 1,140 employees are located in Germany. In 2012, sales amounted to around 232 million Euros. The company is a subsidiary of Trevira Holdings GmbH, a joint venture of Indorama Ventures PCL and Sinterama S.p.A. Mr Hartmann Huth, VP Business Unit Staple Fibres at Trevira, has been working in the Sales team of Trevira from the start of his career for almost 30 years now. He has been responsible for staple fibres and had held the position of Head of Marketing and Sales before he became Chairman of the Business Unit Staple Fibres in 2011.

TT: In recent years new generic fibres have found applications in many areas of technical textiles. Which new generic fibres have made an impact and why?

Man-made fibres have the advantage that they can be designed according to their purpose, without having to apply chemical treatments to the yarns or fabrics at later stages. Examples for this include inherently flame retardant polyester products, hybrid fibres and yarns with low melt components, which permit the thermal stiffening of textiles. Fibres made from biopolymers like PLA reflect a growing interest in manufacturers, including in the hygiene sector. This is due to increasing global consumer demand for sustainable products made from renewable resources.

 
TT: What is the process of producing biopolymer fibres and what are their applications in production of technical textile fabrics?

In principle our fibres from PLA (Ingeo) are manufactured in the same way as “normal” polyester fibres: PLA is counted among the family of polyesters. Of the plant biopolymers, PLA - polylactide - presents the greatest opportunities in technical terms, since it combines good functions with good degradation properties. In order to conserve foodstuff resources, the intention is to manufacture PLA from biomass in future. Our PLA fibres go into a variety of customised technical end-uses, including hygiene applications. They are suitable for every conceivable end use in the nonwovens field. This applies in particular when they are combined with other biologically degradable materials, so that the entire product can be disposed of biologically at the end of its useful life.

TT: What newer applications in technical textiles will play a significant role in coming years in India?

Prosperity in India is rising and the country is on its way to shed the 'emerging nation' tag. The global megatrends are valid for India as well, combined with rising demands in terms of quality and hygiene standards and new consumer goods. We think the focus will be on hygiene and automotive products, as well as on technologies to support new energy concepts and water treatment (such as filtration).

TT: What, in your view, could be major bottlenecks in developing technical textiles and nonwoven sectors in emerging markets, compared to those of developed markets?

First of all: the demand for these products definitely exists in emerging markets. However, the level of disposable income in emerging countries has not reached a sufficient level yet. Therefore the volume of the market is still limited. Another bottleneck is that the value chain still needs to be fully established – here the necessary innovative suitable partners in the downstream levels are often not available yet. Today’s sophisticated technical applications generally need very specialised products in medium or small quantities. This is a challenge for manufacturers of big volumes. Trevira as a medium-sized specialty manufacturer has the expertise to offer the customised products these industries need.

TT: Flame retardant textiles are witnessing a boom never experienced before. What is the reason for this?

There is a rising demand for safety textiles in the contract sector worldwide, especially in the emerging markets in Asia, but also in boom regions like Middle East. New hotels, hospitals and public buildings are being erected all over the world, and existing ones have to be refurbished. Rising safety requirements, as well as new trends in interior design, open up opportunities for suppliers of flame retardant textiles. Together with our customers, we are intensifying our global activities. For example, we have linked European suppliers of Trevira CS textiles with interior designers and architects in Shanghai and also organised a matchmaking event, where European weavers could meet US fabric dealers in New York. Our customers are mainly based in Europe, but they are globally active. By connecting the players along the value chain with our European base of manufacturers and suppliers, we enhance Trevira CS business worldwide. Of course, we also profit from the global set-up of our owner Indorama Ventures.

TT: What are bicomponent fibres and how are they produced? What are their applications in the production of nonwovens?

Bicomponent fibres consist of two components, i.e. two different types of polyester or a polyester/polyethylene system. These components are spun together into filaments or fibres, either in a core/sheath or side-by-side alignment. The fibres or filaments are used mainly for thermal bonding of nonwoven materials, i.e. for hygiene products, but also for filtration, insulation and other specialised applications.

TT: How do you see the market for automotive textiles and in turn for fibres used in producing these textiles developing in the next five years?

The automotive segment remains a strategic core business of Trevira. We expect a globalised business in the future here, since there is a rising demand for automotive interiors outside Europe. As far as the technical aspects are concerned, we see a trend towards reduced weights. Less weight means lower fuel consumption – here again we have an environmental issue. However, the lower weights have to be achieved with the same coverage and elasticity, as well as increased demands regarding the look of the materials. This includes, for example, spun-dyed yarn qualities. We can say that the demands of the OEMs result in increasingly ambitious yarn developments. Over the past years, we have increased our range of “inherently coloured” yarns significantly, and we shall extend this portfolio further.

TT: How do you foresee the outlook of the technical textiles industry worldwide by 2014- 2015?

We see two driving forces here: technical progress and the global megatrend of sustainability. New products require new materials. For example: the new energy storage technologies need new battery separators – these are also made with the use of polyester fibres. Trevira fibres and filaments are also used in composites and multi-axial reinforcements. A substantial part of our business in the technical applications market is made with customised solutions jointly developed for customers.

TT: What are going be new fibre product innovations from Trevira in the next 2-3 years?

In filaments the trend is towards more spun-dyed products and further specialised developments for Trevira CS textiles. In our fibres business we see a growing tendency towards joint developments with partners and customers. This means special projects predominantly under NDAs for many non-textile applications and customised solutions. Our focus in developing the products of the future is mainly on these categories: - Sustainable, lightweight composite materials that support energy saving - Renewable, biodegradable raw material for hygiene products and special applications - Multi-component fibres and yarns for functional textiles with inherent functions for innovative interiors.

TT: What progress has Trevira made in producing environmentally friendly and sustainable fibres?

Man-made fibres from Trevira can offer solutions that are unattainable with natural fibres alone. 40% of global provision with textiles is covered by products made from only 0.8 % of the total consumption of crude oil – man-made fibres are manufactured from this quantity. These can be recycled. The current focus here is still on recycling PET bottles, but there are projects running on reprocessing used textiles and returning them into the circulation of resources. We are currently establishing a post-consumer recycling concept for Trevira CS textiles. In an assessment of all processes from the oil well to the loading ramp, Trevira fibres clearly come out better than cotton in 8 out of 11 categories. For example, the production of 1 kg of staple fibres takes up only 15 litres of water during the whole supply chain, and here the lion’s share goes on the production of raw materials (extracting and processing oil). According to the study, the same amount of cotton fibres requires up to 7.442 litres, depending on the area of cultivation. We do a lot to reduce the environmental impact of our production even further. We observe high standards in the treatment of waste, water, effluents and air. We recover resources as far as possible and have decreased our use of chemical binders in bico fibres production. We have set ambitious goals for energy saving. On top of the certificates for quality and environmental management, we have received in 2012 also the certificate for energy management according to ISO 50001). In our product development, the ecological focus is on inherent functions instead of surface treatment (like spun-dyed and inherently flame retardant), and on increasing the business with fibres made from biopolymers, which we launched in 2010.

Published on: 10/01/2014

DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of technicaltextile.net.


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