EDANA announces the winners of 2020 INDEX awards

October 08, 2020 - Belgium

The winners of the 2020 edition of Edana’s prestigious INDEX Innovation Awards have been announced. The ceremony was originally programmed to take place during INDEX 20 exhibition in April 2020, now scheduled to be held from September 7-10, 2021. Edana, therefore, decided to honour the seven award winners in a ‘live’ online ceremony on September 7, 2020.

With over 70 project submissions across seven categories covering the entire nonwovens supply chain, the awards judging panel, composed of senior industry representatives, members of the nonwovens press, and Edana officers, had the difficult task of refining these down to a maximum only three nominees per category based on demanding criteria, according to a press release by Edana.

Nonwoven roll goods, Sontara Dual, by Jacob Holm is the first winner of the award. Sontara Dual is a unique, new 100 per cent cellulosic wipe substrate made with proprietary Sontara technology. The material combines a rough side with a soft side to achieve extraordinary cleaning results. The unique 3D-aperture structure protects delicate surfaces from scratches and is gentle enough to use on skin. Sontara Dual is available in various colours and is free from any binders, chemicals or adhesives.

Tychem 2000 SFR, finished or composite products made from, or incorporating, nonwovens by DuPont de Nemours is the second winner. Tychem 2000 SFR represents a new generation of secondary flame-resistant chemical garment technology, specially designed to meet the dual hazard needs of a protective chemical suit against chemical splashes together with secondary flame-resistance. The fabric used in Tychem 2000 SFR garments is a unique technology. It does not char when exposed to flames, but was designed to shrink away from flames -without burning.

UltraBond, raw materials or components (for example, fibre, binder, polymer, tape) of special relevance to the nonwovens industry and related converted products by Beaulieu Fibres International is the third winner. Producing 100 per cent recyclable sustainable needle-punched fabrics with this unique polyolefin staple fibre. UltraBond eliminates the need for latex or other chemical binders to consolidate nonwovens. The innovation opens up a new path to create 100 per cent PP needle-punched fabrics which meet the same performance requirements, whilst reducing the end-of-life environmental impact.

Expanding Welding Wheel, an innovation in machinery of special relevance to the nonwovens industry by GDM is the fourth winner of the INDEX award. This innovative solution generates a side seam welding in baby and adult pant-type products. This technology enables the production of an extended number of sizes with the same unit. Side-seam bonding and performance are guaranteed for a wide range of raw materials. The unit is composed of welding stations mounted onto a wheel-like system, allowing high-speed operation and requiring zero size-change time.

J-Cloth Plus Biodegradable Communication Campaign, the most original marketing campaign for a product made from, or incorporating nonwovens by Berry Global is the fifth winner of the award. J-Cloth biodegradable and compostable is produced with 100 per cent natural biodegradable fibres from PEFC certified sources. Berry planned a concurrent marketing campaign combining on and offline communications. The aim was to educate the market as to what was available and get the product into the hands of as many key potential end-users as possible, trying to maximise the push/ pull potential of our distribution chain.

Green Capsule Top Lid, Compostable K-cup filter by Ahlstrom-Munksjö is the sixth winner of the INDEX award. Fiber+, is an innovative filter media using exclusively biodegradable and compostable raw materials for the best infusion. The Green Capsule Top Lid is a compostable lidding filter. Its structure allows perfect coffee extraction thanks to a high-pressure resistance, and the oxygen barrier properties help to preserve coffee freshness in the capsule. The Compostable K-cup filter is a unique compostable, formable filter, compatible with the K-cup system and capable of holding high quantities of coffee for the best result in cup.

The FaterSMART recycling technology is the seventh winner of the award. It is able to recycle used absorbent hygiene products, that is, baby diapers, adult incontinent diapers, and feminine pads, and recover 100 per cent of the raw materials i.e. plastic, cellulose and super absorbent polymers that can be used in new production process in a circular economy environment.

In addition to the award categories, a separate ‘People’s Prize’ was introduced to ensure visibility for all the Awards nominees’ projects and demonstrating the breadth of creativity in the nonwovens industry and its suppliers. The company whose video gathered the greatest number of ‘likes’ on the INDEX Nonwovens LinkedIn page was deemed the prize winner.