SANITARY PRODUCTS

C O N T E N T S

INDUSTRY TO OBSERVE

BOSTIK EXPANDS

HOT MELT OFFERING

Guillaume Desurmont, senior vice president, Bostik, head of the Durable goods global business unit, says, “As today’s global society evolves, placing more emphasis on sustainability and supply chain resilience, our team of experts recognized the value being a one-stop-shop, specialty hot melt solution provider would bring to our customers.

“Our proud track record in providing customers with safe and sustainable solutions to address their adhesive problems will enable us to continue investing in the right resources and requirements to ensure we strengthen our position as the market leader in the Specialty Hot Melts space," he adds.

“We are confident the service we are offering across powders, pellets, webs and films is something the market is missing. We are committed to bringing customers the right thermobonding solution and supporting their innovation and reducing the environmental impact through our Specialty Hot Melts.”

PAMPERS LAUNCHES

HYBRID DIAPER

A recent Pampers survey found that nearly half of all parents have tried cloth diapers but not as many continue to use them because leaks are common and changing them more frequently means more wash cycles. Pampers Pure Protection Hybrid Diapers combine what parents love about both cloth and disposable diapers by pairing soft, reusable cloth diaper covers with disposable inserts. Made to lock wetness away from skin for up to 12 hours, Pure Protection Hybrid Diapers help keep baby’s skin dry and healthy while producing less waste.

Pampers Pure Protection Hybrid Diapers offer:A disposable insert made with a plant-based liner, enriched with shea butter and other thoughtfully selected materials. It features Pampers’ trusted absorbent core and high leg cuffs to help prevent leaks.

“One size fits most” super soft reusable cloth covers made with premium fabrics, adjustable leg elastics and waist snaps that will last through multiple changes. The machine washable covers are easy to clean with simple laundering instructions.

14 playful and fun prints (fruits, animals, and sweet messages) so parents can customize their collection.

Pampers Pure Protection Hybrid Diapers meet the same high-quality standards as all Pampers products. Just like other products in the Pampers Pure Protection family, Pure Protection Hybrid Diapers are hypoallergenic and contain 0% fragrance, elemental chlorine, latex (natural rubber), or parabens.

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TRADE NEWS

TRADE NEWS

HENKEL PARTNERS WITH SMARTZ

FOR ADULT CARE SOLUTIONS

The partnership brings together conductive inks from Henkel's printed electronics portfolio with Smartz's existing adult care Internet of Things (IoT) hardware and software solutions.

Together, both companies will be able to create smart hygiene products that can sense when a wearer needs to be changed or moved, supporting and unburdening medical personnel.

With an ageing population and increasing demands for adult care, Henkel says that such solutions provide an effective way to offer improved performance that simplifies the tasks of caregivers. At the same time, it provides dependent people with a less intrusive service and further protection.

Developed alongside Smartz, this new development is said to provide manufacturers of hygiene products with smart capabilities that can be integrated into existing product designs and produced on a large scale. Through the partnership agreement, the companies will also jointly develop future generations of smart care products and new applications relating to digital health.

Manufacturers can integrate this added functionality to conventional hygiene products within the existing manufacturing infrastructure. It is also said to help healthcare or care providers to quickly realize cost savings by avoiding unnecessary checking and product changes. This also helps to avoid additional inconvenience or even distress that individuals may experience when action is taken needlessly or when it is delayed.This is especially true for patients unable to communicate their needs. Timely changes and regular repositioning support the prevention of dermatitis, bed sore and urinary tract infections, which are often associated with incontinence patients. The wearers’ status is sent wirelessly to the Smartz app, where it can be monitored via a dashboard of health and wellness metrics or passed to existing monitoring and call systems to keep all relevant information in one place. All data is securely encrypted to comply with relevant privacy legislation.

“We believe in the power of data in the context of medicine. At Smartz, we have a decade of experience in building a robust, yet flexible platform to fully realize this vision,” said Michael Spooner, CEO Smartz. “With Henkel we have found a partner that complements our technology with the target market experience and network, as well as outstanding printed electronics expertise.”

By creating an integrated platform, Henkel and Smartz say they are also providing manufacturers of hygiene products with a scalable solution that can be customized to suit the branding and user requirements of their customers. The first commercial product targets the adult care market, with features including moisture sensing, patient position, environment temperature, and fall detection. The software also allows for individual goal setting per patient, such as alarms for caregivers to reposition to help prevent bed sores and additional incontinence related side effects.

The solution is seamlessly integrated into existing diaper designs without additional capital expenditure. Furthermore, the turnkey solution ensures that concept, prototyping, calibration, and field tests can be rapidly completed within six months. Manufacturers have the access to both partners’ expertise while being able to source the full solution from a single point of contact.In addition to a joint marketing agreement, the parties have entered a joint development agreement to support development of additional features and additional commercial products extending into adjacent markets like baby care in the future.

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TRADE NEWS

TRADE NEWS

On June 17, 2021, Hangzhou COCO Care Products Co., Ltd. (stock abbreviation: COCO Stock, stock code: 301009) officially landed in A-share, rang the opening bell in Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and became the first stock of adult diapers in China. The listing ceremony was successfully held in Shenzhen.

Hangzhou COCO Care Products Co., Ltd. is an outstanding enterprise in China's hygiene products industry, focusing on the research and development and production of adult incontinence products, baby care products, elderly care products and other products. Established in 2001, Hangzhou COCO Care Products Co., Ltd. has successfully achieved leapfrog development after 20 years of extraordinary years.

From the initial export of ODM OEM products for adult incontinence products to the establishment and cultivation of their own brand "COCO ", the company has been insisting on technological and market innovation, including the establishment of the first provincial enterprise research institute in China, to provide technical support for the company's high-quality development.Explore new marketing mode.So that the company's market competitiveness and brand influence continue to improve.With the deepening of the aging trend of China's population, COCO has seized the market opportunity of the growth of domestic demand for adult incontinence products in China, stood out among numerous adult diaper manufacturers and achieved success. With stable and excellent product quality, COCO has become the leading enterprise of adult diaper industry in China.In terms of sales volume and market share, the company has ranked first in China's adult incontinence products industry for many years in a row, and was rated as one of the top ten enterprises in China's adult incontinence products industry in 2018, 2019 and 2020 by China Paper Association Household Paper Professional Committee. At the same time, the company also has a more and more extensive influence in overseas markets.Over the years, COCO has made positive contributions to promoting the development of China's hygiene products industry and enhancing the international influence of China's adult care products.

The A-share listing of COCO Stock will further increase the company's production capacity, optimize the product structure, improve the R&D and innovation ability and production technology level, and also play an important role in promoting and leading the development of the industry.

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TRADE NEWS

TRADE NEWS

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In the past three years, the performance of Yiyi shares showed a trend of rapid growth.From 2018 to 2020, Yiyi's operating income rose from 903 million yuan to 1.241 billion yuan;The net profit attributable to the parent increased from 35.3982 million yuan to 194 million yuan, the growth rate of the net profit was much higher than the growth rate of the revenue, highlighting the company's super profitability.

From the perspective of business income, from 2018 to 2020, the sales revenue of pet disposable hygiene care products increased from 815 million yuan to 1.085 billion yuan.Among them, the income of pet mat products contributed more than 90% of the sales revenue.

In addition, in March 2020, in the face of the continuous spread of COVID-19 epidemic, Gaojie Co., Ltd. started the production and sales of masks for civilian use with non-woven fabrics as raw materials. The revenue of this business reached 110 million yuan in 2020, with a year-on-year increase of 60.53%.

It is worth noting that Yiyi shares cash flow stable in good condition.From 2018 to 2020, the net cash flows generated by Yiyi shares' operating activities are 41,396,000 yuan, 124 million yuan and 183 million yuan respectively, and the liquidity ratio has been maintained at more than 1 times for a long time.

In the future, company based on the raise funds investment project implementation, will implement the new pet cushion, pet diapers, non-woven production, expand the scale of original main business products production capacity, enhance ability to supply security products, better service to international and domestic customers and markets, expand the scale advantages, enhance profitability.

On May 18, Tianjin Yiyi Hygiene Products Co., Ltd. (stock code "001206"), an outstanding domestic manufacturer of hygiene care products, was officially listed on the main board of Shenzhen Stock Exchange.The capital market adds another member of hygiene industry.

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TRADE NEWS

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On May26,2021, Hangzhou Haoyue Nursing Products Co., Ltd. announced that the wholly-owned subsidiary Haoyue Nursing (Hubei) Co., Ltd. was established on May 20, 2021 with an investment of 50 million yuan from its own funds.

The business scope of Hubei Branch includes hygiene supplies and disposable medical supplies production and marketing;Paper products production and marketing;Import and export of goods, etc.

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TRADE NEWS

President Xu Qingliu introduced that, as an important layout of the group in central China and radiating to the whole country, Hengan Xiaogan Paper Base has many characteristics:

The first is scale.The project is planned to cover an area of 700 mu, realize the integration of papermaking post-processing, and the annual capacity will reach 300,000 tons after completion, which will become the largest papermaking base of the group.

The second is remote planning.In response to China's consumption level and personalized and professional needs, the base will also produce a large number of new products to meet future consumer demand, supporting Hengan to continue to lead the development of China's lifepaper market.

Finally, high standards.From the demonstration to the design, as well as the following construction scheme, the project is adhering to the concept of "green, low carbon and sustainable development",?

PRODUCT AND?PAPER TWO NEW

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On May 13, 2021, Kao (China) Investment Co., Ltd announced the completion of the construction of the second phase of the new plant of Kao (Hefei) Co., Ltd in Hefei City, Anhui Province.The expansion of the facility is designed to further strengthen the company's healthcare products manufacturing system in China and to quickly deliver high-quality products that meet the needs of Chinese consumers.The second phase of the new plant, with an initial investment of about 6 billion yen, is scheduled to begin production and supply a new line of Kao (China) health care products within the year.

In the future, Kao (China) will make use of the advanced technology of Kao Group while further exerting its R&D and production strength in China to respond to market changes quickly and strengthen the supply of high-quality products produced in China, so as to meet the diversified needs of Chinese consumers as soon as possible.

TRADE NEWS

TRADE NEWS

As one of Junfu Nonwovens nine existing production bases, Junfu Thailand factory is an important link in Junfu global supply chain. It is located in No. 2 WHA East Coast Industrial Park, Chonburi Province, Thailand, 120 km from the capital Bangkok, and 40 km from the largest international port, Lam Chabang Port. Junfu Thailand factory covers an area of 200 mu. The first production line of the first phase of the project has been debugged and started mass production. The follow-up production line will be put into operation in the third quarter to achieve efficiency.By then, it is expected to achieve an annual capacity of about 39,000 tons, serving the furniture, automobile, geotechnical and other markets with needling and spunbond technology.

Tian Yu, CEO of Junfu Nonwovens Business Unit, said, "The Thai factory is the first time for Junfu to set up an overseas factory independently, which is a successful attempt of multinational investment, which is of great significance for us to further improve our global layout and become an international nonwovens enterprise.The Thai facility not only expands our manufacturing sector, but also enriches our global supply chain, helping us to provide our customers with innovative supply chain solutions and continuously create value for our customers."

JUNFU THAILAND FACTORY

JUNFU THAILAND FACTORY

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A press conference was held by the State Information Office of the People's Republic of China to introduce the main results of the seventh national population census in Beijing, May 11, 2021.

Data showed that China's population totaled 1,411.178 million, an increase of 72.06 million, or 5.38 percent, compared with the data from the sixth national census in 2010. The average annual growth rate was 0.53 percent, down 0.04 percentage points from the average annual growth rate of 0.57 percent from 2000 to 2010.

It is worth noting that the number of births in China in 2020 will be 12 million, and the birth rate will be 8.50 per thousand, 2.65 million fewer than the 14.65 million in 2019, a drop of about 18 percent, marking the "fourth consecutive decline" and the lowest birth rate since the data began in 1952.

In 2020, the number of children aged 0-14 in China increased by 30.92 million, or 1.35 percentage points, compared with 2010.In addition, 12 million people will be born in 2020.The total fertility rate of women of childbearing age is 1.3, which is already at a relatively low level.

While the fertility rate has been at a relatively low level, the scale of the elderly population in China has expanded in the past 10 years, and the aging process has accelerated significantly.

In terms of the total elderly population, China has 260 million people aged 60 and over, including 190 million people aged 65 and over.Compared with the previous decade, the proportion of the population aged 60 and over and the proportion of the population aged 65 and over increased by 2.51 and 2.72 percentage points respectively.

As the population ages, the working population shrinks.In terms of the total, China's working-age population between 16 and 59 fell by more than 40 million compared with 2010.

"In the next 50 to 60 years, China will maintain the largest size of the elderly population in the world, stepping into the global aging population with the highest degree of square.The labor resources represented by the working-age population are shrinking ahead of schedule, the sustainability of social security is becoming increasingly prominent, and the negative population growth is compounded by the low fertility trap."Nankai University School of Economics Population and Development Research Institute professor, China Population Association Vice President Yuan Xin said.

TRADE NEWS

TRADE NEWS

The meeting pointed out that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPC Central Committee has made major decisions and plans in light of China's population development and changes, and achieved positive results in implementing the policy of having two children if one child is an individual and having two children for all.At the same time, China has a huge population, and the aging of the population has deepened in recent years.Further optimization of the birth policy, the implementation of the one-child policy and supporting measures will help improve China's population structure, implement the national strategy of actively responding to the aging of the population, and maintain China's advantage in human resources endowment.

NEW DEMOGRAPHIC PATTERNS IN CHINA

A DECLINING BIRTH RATE, A SHRINKING LABOR FORCE AND A DEEPENING AGING POPULATION

? CHINA'S THREE-CHILD POLICY IS COMING! ?

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MELBOURNE – In a potential solution to pandemic-generated waste, researchers at RMIT University in Australia have developed a new road-making material from shredded singleuse facemasks and processed building rubble.

Analysis shows the face masks help to add stiffness and strength to the material, which is designed to be used for the base layers of roads and pavements and meets civil engineering safety standards.

It is well known that the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) has increased dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic, with an estimated 6.8 billion disposable face masks being used across the globe each day.

“Multidisciplinary and collaborative approaches are now needed to tackle the environmental impact of Covid-19, particularly the risks associated with the disposal of used PPE and our initial study looked at the feasibility of recycling single-use face masks into roads,” said RMIT’s Dr Mohammad Saberian. “We?were thrilled to find it not only works, but also delivers real engineering benefits and we hope this opens the door for further research.”

Roads are made of four layers – subgrade, base, sub-base and asphalt on top. All the layers must be both strong and flexible to withstand the pressures of heavy vehicles and prevent cracking.

Processed building rubble – known as recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) – can potentially be used on its own for the three base layers. But the researchers found adding shredded face masks to RCA enhances the material while simultaneously addressing environmental challenges on two fronts, namely PPE disposal and construction waste.

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TRADE NEWS

MASK WASTE FOR

NEW ROAD CONSTRUCTION

Construction, renovation and demolition account for about half the waste produced annually worldwide, and in Australia, about 3.15 million tons of RCA is added to stockpiles each yearrather than being reused.

The study identified an optimal mixture – 1% shredded face masks to 99% RCA – that delivers on strength while maintaining good cohesion between the two materials. The mixture performs well when tested for stress, acid and water resistance, as well as strength, deformation and dynamic properties, meeting all the relevant civil engineering specifications.

While the experimental study was conducted with a small amount of unused surgical face masks, other research has investigated effective methods for disinfecting and sterilising used masks.

A comprehensive review of disinfection technologies found that 99.9% of viruses could be killed with a simple “microwave method”, where masks are sprayed with an antiseptic solution then microwaved for one minute.

ONTEX’S SMART DIAPERS USE PRINTED

As the average population ages, adult care is an increasing important personal hygiene. Taking care of the continence needs of older adults is becoming much more important.

As a leading international personal hygiene group, Ontex develops and manufactures products for baby, feminine and adult care. In addition to its own brands, Ontex makes products for leading retailers.

Based on research into customer needs, Ontex is developing the smart diaper and related services to increase the wellbeing of all affected by continence care - patients, professional caregivers, institutions and families - and optimize total cost associated to continence care by reducing the time needed for continence care and resources consumption.

The smart diaper is one of the most promising products to reach the field of continence care, and Ontex has developed an innovative system that features a printed, recyclable sensor in ink that meets the needs of all of the stakeholders.

Ontex’s solution features a high-quality diaper with a printed sensor and a transmitter clipped onto the diaper. It accurately determines the saturation level of the diaper and the risk of leakage, and through its mobile app, alerts care-givers when it is time to change the diaper.

Ontex spokesperson Maarten Verbanck noted that there are benefits of Ontex’s smart diapers, beginning with its recyclability.

“The choice for a reusable device and printed, recyclable sensor in ink is meeting the needs we detected from our customers, wellbeing of our residents and staff and cost-efficiency,” Verbanck observed. “It is also motivated by our design-for-recycling concept (including packaging). We look at every aspect of the life of our products, keeping recycling infrastructure in mind.”

Another key advantage is that the smart diaper reduces the time needed for continence care and resources consumption.

“Our purpose is to collectively reinvent continence care,” Verbanck said. “The key needs for caregivers are wellbeing of patients (emphasis on comfort, safety and sleep through the night policy), to spend less time on change of absorbing aids and linen change due to leaks as well as wound care.

“This solution is the result of the continuous research done on specific needs for continence care (mainly institutional) and the insights learned over these years: Giving care is rewarding but also very challenging as it implies physical effort, intense time dedication and an emotional burden,” he added.

Verbanck noted that there were quite a few challenges to overcome.

“The project requires thorough market intelligence and a cross-functional approach, including production line adaptation and the addition of new expertise in fields like electronic engineering, internet of things, cloud computing and the making of software for front- and backend,” Verbanck noted. “The validation of the multiple components of the solution requires also more time than with traditional ranges but also new and more complex certifications in the domain of medical devices.”

Ontex is the only owner of this solution and its development is fully controlled by Ontex’s R&D, Digital Factory and Healthcare Sales & Marketing teams. “We work together with carefully selected and reputable providers like IT companies and designers,” Verbanck said. “We have filed several patent applications to protect our technology.”

The smart diapers underwent six weeks of testing in normal conditions of use at a senior care facility in Belgium. Verbanck reported that the feedback is excellent.

“The first results of the test are very promising, and carers tell us they have more time for other types of care thanks to the optimized continence care; 82% of the caregivers who tested the smart diaper told us that they would recommend the use of a smart diaper,” Verbanck concluded.(nonwovens-industry)

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Honest diapers’ launch eight years ago as a direct-to-consumer diaper subscription and its subsequent growth over the following two years into major retailers in the U.S., marked the first step in a diaper revolution that we still see today. While green diaper brands already existed back in 2012, Honest expanded on the safety and sustainability claims and further was able to deliver a diaper that was social media worthy. The range of available diaper prints to pick and choose into your customized diaper subscription box soon became fashion statements shared across millennial social media accounts.

Since then, we have seen the emergence of new brands fashioned after similar features, that have found their niche in the premium segment but have recently grown to explore the new masstige trend: inexpensive goods marketed as luxurious or premium. The national brands P&G and KC launched their own high-end lines of diapers in 2018 and 2019, respectively, with Pampers Pure and Huggies Special Delivery.?

Also making a claim in the premium segment are newly launched Healthynest, a “plant-based” diapering subscription that includes activity trays for babies; Kudos, the first diaper to have a 100% cotton topsheet; and Coterie, high-performance super absorbent diapers.?

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INDUSTRY TO OBSERVE

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To better understand what resonates the most with millennial consumers, our team at Diaper Testing International took to Amazon and did a full data scrape and review mining of the verified-purchased consumer reviews for a couple of diapers brands. The result was an analysis of more than 7000 verified reviews by parents.

When looking at consumer complaints, 46% of all mentions were related to diaper performance: leaks, rashes, absorbency and blowouts. Other complaints included construction defects, quality perception, product consistency, fit, print patterns, price and odor. Complaints involving mentions of natural ingredients or sustainability (or lack thereof) were attributed to less than 1% of all complaints.

In an endeavor to understand the extent of consumer interest in sustainability, our team identified a list of sustainability-related words and evaluated their prevalence across reviews of individual diaper brands. Words analyzed included any derivatives of the following (when used in context): ethic, bio-, responsible, footprint, compost, eco-, landfill, planet, recycle, renewable, earth, reuse, green, carbon, environment, sustainable. We found less than 1% of all reviews demonstrated interest (either pro or con) in sustainability.

Considering the significant marketing claims that Pampers Pure has made in relation to sustainability including: conversion with 100% certified renewable energy, 99% of all materials being reused, recycled or recovered, and 0% production waste ending in landfill; very little of that is reflected back when consumers share what they like or dislike about the product—with only 2% of reviews mentioning sustainability (including the word “eco-friendly.”)

On the other hand, when evaluating the consumer impact of natural or toxic-free claims we found marketing of safe and “chemical-free” diapers have produced a much more significant impact than sustainability, with a total of 3% of reviews mentioning a derivative of natural and safe. Words used to denote an interest in natural and safety included: fragrance, toxic, plant-based, hypoallergenic, harsh, harmful, chlorine, phthalates, safe, bleach, free of, chemicals, natural and organic.

It is in the natural and safe front where we found the biggest difference in consumer perception between premium and mass brands. P&G’s Pampers Pure had a total of 15% of reviews mention natural and safety versus Pampers Swaddlers where only 1% mentioned those words. Pure’s customers surpass even Honest’s when it comes to alluding to safety and “pureness” of diapers, with 10% of Honest’s reviews mentioning natural and safe words. Kimberly-Clark’s Huggies Special Delivery demonstrated a similar pattern with 7% of reviews mentioning safety versus its lower tiered Huggies Little Snugglers at 1%. It is clear Pampers Pure has done an incredible job marketing its backsheet cotton-blend and other?“toxic-free” claims.

?“Cute” and “prints” were mentioned in only 2% of total reviews, again with a bigger distinction between mass and premium brands—where premium brands elicited higher interest in prints and designs from parent reviews.

At the end of the day, most of the reviews across all brands of diapers primarily focused on leakages, fit and performance. Perceived value, diaper performance and containment continue to define the main concerns of all parents. In narrowing down specifics for sustainability, natural and safety claims, softness and prints we attempted to identify delivery of added value in diaper brands and found there is little consumer interest in sustainability, even from users of greener brands (sold in Amazon, including Honest, Pure and Special Delivery).

What Will Be the Main Trends in Diapering Going Forward?

A focus on natural ingredients and features parents can enjoy including performance related enhancements, aesthetics such as fun or customized prints and curated parenting subscription boxes, will be in the forefront of consumer demand. While a small niche of millennial parents will continue to push for greener diapers (and put their money where their stance is), most of the push towards sustainability will continue to come from NGOs and giant retailers meeting ESG goals, rather than few informed buyers.

Until a game-changer in sustainability that can truly disrupt the way diapers are disposed of and reclaimed, such as diapers becoming part of a circular economy through recycling, or a re-working of the supply chain and logistics to compost diapers at an industrial level, diaper sustainability focus and claims will not sway most consumers except for the little added value they present or the correlation sustainability brings to an assumption of “natural” and “safer” for baby.

In short, CO2 emission talk ain’t great; plant-based, non-toxic ingredients and perceptible features are more worthwhile endeavors to gain support of current parents.

FEMININE HYGIENE:?

ROOM FOR MORE

Gone are the days when just a few brands dominated the feminine hygiene aisle. Over the last few years an explosion of new names and products featuring variations in ingredients and materials have expanded the diversity of store shelves, and there’s no sign of it stopping anytime soon.

“It is truly fascinating what’s happening and I don’t see any evidence that this variety is going to shrink,” says Pricie Hanna, managing partner of Price Hanna Consultants. “It seems to have proved that it has staying power. We’ve been watching it for some time now and these products aren’t disappearing.”

Young women are clearly interested in trying new products and solutions, Hanna adds, and the impact of social media as a referral vehicle is very powerful. “We are long past the days when a mother would recommend to her teenage daughter what to use and that was it for her lifetime. I think the appetite to try something new seems to be very strong if it’s supported by social media chatter and referrals. That’s what’s trusted rather than the advertising that was traditionally done by the market leaders.”

These new, smaller brands that mainly launched on direct-to-consumer channels through e-commerce have found success gaining attention on social media prior to joining better established brands on the shelves of mass retailers.

“Retailers for years would never carry more than the three feminine hygiene leaders product lines plus their private label offering,” Hanna explains. “That was because there were enough variations on the theme in terms of package counts and sizes that already were considered to be a very complex array to manage. Well, look at the feminine hygiene shelves today and you see twice as many SKUs in this category. I think that most retailers are expanding their feminine product offerings both on the shelf as well as online.”

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Indeed, new brands in the femcare market have been taking an omnichannel approach to sales, interacting with consumers on multiple platforms, whether they’re shopping online from a laptop, mobile device or in a brick-and-mortar store.

“Most of these new products started online and now we see really interesting omnichannel patterns,” says Hanna. “Look at Walmart online. They are following the Amazon practice of offering products that are sold and shipped directly by the marketing company who designed the products. This permits Walmart to offer the assortment needed to keep up with this trend.”

According to a report on the global feminine care market from Euromonitor International, as the consumer path to purchase continues to evolve, e-commerce is seeing the fastest growth in disposable hygiene distribution. However, with the majority of sales still happening in stores, many direct-to-consumer brands are focusing more on omnichannel retail to expand their customer base.

“Everybody talks about e-commerce but the important thing to consider is the whole omnichannel approach because a majority of people still buy personal care products in stores,” says Svetlana Uduslivaia, head of research at Euromonitor International. “If you’re ignoring that space, you’re not tapping into a lot of the consumer base and you’re not visible to a lot of consumers.”

These new brands were really smart to start with direct-to-consumer and build out their knowledge and understanding of consumers, she adds, “because it has allowed them to gather a lot of data on what people are buying, how they’re seeing the product and they’re developing strategies around that and then they build partnerships with retailers like Target, Walmart and others.”

Most of the new period care brands launching are in the natural and organic space, and many of them have increased their sales quite a bit, according to Uduslivaia. “These new brands are more visible in the market. In the U.S., we talk about brands like Cora and Rael, among others, that have expanded, and sure, they’re not anywhere near the sales of Tampax, Always or Kotex, but they are no longer just a tiny niche.”

In fact, Euromonitor recently began breaking out some of the smaller natural-positioned brands in its tracking of brand market shares for U.S. sanitary protection as well as some other markets, as many of these brands continue to evolve and grow. Previously they were all grouped together in the “Others” category.

“There aren’t more consumers for the feminine care brands to capture in developed markets like the U.S. with already high levels of disposable hygiene penetration, as the female population is ageing while many younger women are using contraceptives that reduce the need for period protection. In this environment, the growth of feminine hygiene brands depends on their ability to whisk customers away from competition rather than relying on expanding consumer base and organic growth,” Uduslivaia says. “Not everybody is successful, but there are quite a few brands that are definitely making an impact and definitely more significant.”

L., Cora, Organic Initiative and Rael are just some of the brands that have been added to store shelves alongside the pioneers in the eco-friendly femcare space such as Organyc, Seventh Generation and Natracare—all of which incorporate organic cotton in their products.

“People perceive that cotton is soft, cotton is comfortable, cotton is safe,” Hanna says. “The cotton image is clearly attractive to consumers. When you look at the retailers’ feminine hygiene offering it’s really been quite stunning how much shelf space is now going to these new products.”

According to Annick De Poorter, executive vice president Innovation, Sustainability and Quality at European hygiene manufacturer Ontex, sustainable and performance products are what consumers are looking for these days. “High performance on its own is not the ultimate target anymore,” she says. “Combining high performance with sustainable product design is an exciting challenge for us. As an example, we are addressing this challenge in the ultra thin towels segment, where we combine organic/bio-based materials and smart channels in the core.”

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Ontex’s innovations in natural feminine care include raw material changes but also product design that automatically reduces the use of plastic. “We are aware that this trend goes in two directions: safe for the consumer and safe for the planet,” De Poorter says. “The trend emerged more as the former but now consumers are ever more concerned on the impact they are having on the planet as well. We take these two into account.”

Ontex is achieving constant development in its natural range. More product concepts are included in the range to offer a portfolio that is as similar as possible to its conventional range. Today it has an organic cotton range in all segments: ultra thin towels, liners, non-applicator tampons and all types of applicator tampons.

Growth of organic and natural products is being driven by consumers that are becoming aware of the ingredients in products, according to Paola Stevan, senior manager global marketing, Corman SpA, maker of Organyc. “Women in particular are questioning, why for instance, the list of man-made ingredients in traditional femcare products is so long. Growth of traditional femcare products is stagnating all over the world, and women are replacing them with more natural ones. The issue women face today is that many of the so-called natural products only meet the definition of natural half-way, with a cover made of cotton and nothing else. Unfortunately many of the half natural products are being heavily promoted and advertised. While women are shifting preference to natural it will remain important to read labels.”

Just this year the brand launched a new overnight product that offers greater absorption and more importantly coverage than its previous longest pad. “Consumers want the confidence of knowing they will be protected overnight from leaks and have Clinically-Proven Protection of their sensitive skin. So, we responded,” Stevan says.

A logical next step for Organyc was the launch of its new light incontinence (bladder leakage) pads, available in four sizes. The line of products uses 100% certified organic cotton on the topsheet—a consistent with the overall brand platform of protection for sensitive skin—and a patented Cotton-Balanced absorbent core that has a mix of cotton and super absorbents to pull wetness away and maintain a dry feeling. The new products offer a natural solution to odor control, using a PH activated system that neutralizes odor causing molecules.

//www.hygiene-industry.com? ?1) 2021

//www.hygiene-industry.com? ?1) 2021

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Industry consultant Heidi Beatty of Crown Abbey, a consultancy that helps companies big and small develop and launch new products, says that as far as sourcing raw materials for products, clients are asking a lot more than ever before that they want to have an understanding of what the fibers are to start with in a product. “Before, companies were just saying, ‘I want a wet wipe.’ It didn’t really matter what the materials were; they left that to us,” she says. “But now they’re really specifying the fibers need to be either natural or bio-based or there will be some form of requirement in terms of sustainability and the environment.”

With regard to raw materials derived from trees such as fluff pulp, there has also been a lot more understanding on the client and consumer sides of certifications such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), she adds. “FSC certification is something that we now put on packs for many of our clients, so the consumers are seeing it as well.”

For brands that stress the importance of sustainability and doing the right thing, Crown Abbey recommends sourcing from places that are really transparent and where they know what that supply chain looks like. Beatty comments: “There’s certainly been a shift back to more home base, so the European clients are asking for manufacturing to be as close to home as possible, where maybe five to 10 years ago they would say, ‘We just want the best price, so if we have to go to Asia, it doesn’t really matter,’ but that has certainly changed. In North America too; our clients want to say ‘Made in the USA’ on packs, and so the supply chain transparency becomes a lot more relevant.”

The Organyc brand, she says, has always stood on three pillars: transparency, sustainability and authenticity. “Our consumers, who cover Generation Z to Baby Boomers, connect to our brand DNA more today than ever before,” she explains. “Women have a high concern about what they put on and in their body; something we capture in our simple statement to them, Expect Respect. For a brand that means being authentic in the claims that are made, being transparent in the ingredients used, and using sustainable practices in all aspects of the business. Our brand stood for these things and practiced these principals well before it became a common demand from consumers.”

Andrea Wroble, senior research analyst, Health and Wellness, Mintel, says that the feminine hygiene and sanitary protection category is in a moment of growth and evolution. “Consumer expectations are extending beyond functional needs, challenging key players to offer eco-friendly packaging, natural/organic materials and ingredient transparency at affordable prices. At the same time, brands have opportunity to grow user knowledge of product safety and managing vaginal health.”

Indeed, in recent years consumers’ calls for increased transparency has pushed hygiene brands big and small to list their products’ ingredients, at minimum, on their websites.

Alessandra Castro, adult & feminine care global brand purpose & social impact director, Kimberly-Clark, says ingredient transparency has been one significant area that consumers are interested. “For years, we have disclosed information on intentionally added ingredients to consumers on the package, and in North America, consumers can find this information on our website as well. We also maintain a restricted substances list as part of our commitment to safety,” she says.

Additionally, in recent years proposed legislation mandating disclosure of ingredients in femcare products has been introduced in some U.S. states. In fact, last year New York became the first U.S. state to require that all ingredients in tampons, pads and other feminine hygiene items be disclosed. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the law that went into effect in January 2020, but companies have 18 months from that point to introduce new packaging with labels listing ingredients. Similar legislation was also signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom at the end of September. Other states are beginning to follow suit, proposing their own legislation.

Taking transparency a step further, some of today’s new femcare brands are going as far as listing where the ingredients are sourced. Rael, for example, says it uses OCS, USDA certified and non-GMO cotton from Texas that is safely grown without toxic pesticides and synthetic chemicals. “Texas cotton has also been found to be among the cleanest types of cotton in the world,” the company states on its website, stressing that its period care products are made with healthy ingredients sourced in the U.S. Organic Initiative, meanwhile, says its cotton comes from a range of GOTS (Global Organic Textiles Standard) certified farms in the U.S., Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

While still a very small share of the feminine hygiene market, consumers with major concerns for the environment and the impact that disposable products make have been increasingly experimenting with products like reusable menstrual cups and period underwear. Consumers’ growing interest in these other formats has attracted the attention of the major players who traditionally focused on pads, liners and tampons.

//www.hygiene-industry.com? ?1) 2021

//www.hygiene-industry.com? ?1) 2021

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In late 2018, Procter & Gamble, the maker of Always pads and Tampax tampons, launched a menstrual cup under its Tampax brand. And, while not reusable, P&G’s Always brand quietly introduced this year Always ZZZ Disposable Overnight Period Underwear. The overnight period underwear offers 360° coverage, staying in place in any position a user sleeps in. Made with a silky-soft and breathable material, the disposable overnight period panties are designed to fit just like regular underwear.

Meanwhile, last year Kotex maker Kimberly-Clark invested $25 million in Thinx, a maker of reusable period underwear designed to offer an eco-friendly alternative to pads and tampons. The company’s period-proof innerwears are made by using quad-dry breathe technology, with thin materials that resist stains and leaks, wick moisture and provide anti-bacterial support.

K-C’s investment will reportedly enable Thinx to launch a lower-cost line of underwear priced between $15 and $19 a pair, compared to the current options with prices between $24 and $42.

“While we cannot speculate on new products, we certainly know that women are looking for new and sustainable ways to manage their periods, and our investment in Thinx provides an opportunity to gain deeper insights into this emerging space in the feminine care market,” says Castro.

Right now, the major brands want to be sure they can meet every need that they can identify, according to Hanna. “They’re investing in new niche products to gain first-hand insights on what is catching the consumers’ attention,” she explains. “It’s evident that these leaders are determined to offer the consumer every meaningful variation that they can identify, and they obviously decided that the SKU proliferation or the shelf space is not that big a concern because of e-commerce. What’s important is that they have their own entries into specialty segments to provide a reliable way to see what’s growing and what’s not.”

Euromonitor’s Uduslivaia says that while the reusable segment of the market is no longer a tiny niche, it’s also not the size of the disposable market and it probably never will be. “But it’s definitely there and it is a disruptor,” she says. “That’s a reason why tapping into that space has become part of the strategies that the key players are using to make sure they capture women everywhere they are, whether they’re using disposable, or whether they’re using reusable.”

In recent years cause marketing has become a norm for femcare brands. Experts say this has evolved from eliminating stigma associated with menstruation to focusing on access to menstrual products as a right.

Marking the 100th anniversary of its Kotex brand, Kimberly-Clark is continuing the critical work to break down period stigmas. Earlier this year, the company announced the Kotex ‘She Can Initiative.’ This initiative champions women’s progress by fighting period stigmas and the barriers they cause by promoting access to education in schools and communities and by helping to open doors so women gain equal opportunity. “Kotex exists to ensure that a period never stands in the way of a woman’s progress,” says Castro.

K-C works closely with Plan International, a girls’ rights organization, in countries around the world to deliver menstrual hygiene education through community platforms such as girls’ clubs, parenting groups, and teacher trainings. This work occurs primarily in schools and communities, as well as in health care facilities. Plan International also works to improve local access to period products and builds bathrooms in schools, which help girls manage their periods with dignity. As part of the ‘She Can Initiative,’ K-C committed $2.5 million over three years to Plan International to expand menstrual hygiene education and access.

Another U by Kotex initiative that launched earlier this year in the U.S. was an advertising campaign to show the absorbency of the Security Ultra-Thin Pads while challenging period stigmas by using a red fluid (resembling actual blood) as opposed to blue.

U by Kotex also co-founded the Alliance for Period Supplies in 2018 to provide products to women in need via local social service agencies. In the U.S., about 25% of women typically don’t have the means to buy period supplies, according to K-C.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women and forced many of them to turn to nonprofits for essential goods,” says Castro. “This year, U by Kotex donated 1 million menstrual pads and panty liners to the Alliance for Period Supplies, over and above our annual contribution, to meet increased demand due to the pandemic.”

U by Kotex has donated more than 24 million period products to the Alliance for Period Supplies over the past two years.

Swedish hygiene company Essity has also taken actions to remove the taboos surrounding menstruation and promote awareness of hygiene and menstruation. Educational programs are arranged in Latin America, Asia and Europe that aim to educate girls about what happens to their bodies during puberty and when they have their period.

For years, Essity has been on a mission to break barriers to women’s wellbeing with innovative feminine care products and bold campaigns.

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//www.hygiene-industry.com? ?1) 2021

In 2017, Essity’s #bloodnormal campaign normalized conversations about period care by showing red period blood—instead of unnatural clinical blue liquid—in advertisements. In 2018, Essity followed this up with the award-winning “Viva la Vulva” campaign, where singing vulvas called out the culture of body shaming. Behind the bold content was a serious message—68% of women don’t really know what their own vulva is and many feel embarrassed about the way it looks, feels and smells, sometimes leading to serious health consequences.

In 2020, the company takes one step forward in this direction with Essity Ventures, a strategic initiative within Essity to reshape the future of women’s health in collaboration with top-notch startups in the femtech ecosystem.

Essity Ventures started its first partnership in the femtech space with Endometrix, a startup that helps women with endometriosis, empowering them with data-driven solutions to better understand their condition and empowering them with self-care programs.

“We are thrilled to collaborate a startup like Endometrix, that shares our vision to reshape the future of women’s health. With this partnership, we connect the dots between our strong know-how and understanding of women’s needs and Endometrix’ groundbreaking tech-driven innovation,” says Robert Sj?str?m, president Global Operational Services and CIO at Essity.

Essity featured the Endometrix app as part of its Bodyform brand’s #wombstories campaign, helping the startup raise awareness of the tool. As part of this collaboration, women are offered access to Endometrix’ premium solution via Libresse, one of Essity’s leading brands. Those who sign up for this offer receive a welcome care package with Libresse products and one free month trial of the Endometrix application. The offer, targeting women in Sweden and Norway, might be extended to other countries following the pilot session.

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“We were aiming at onboarding 3000 women to Endometrix over three months, but we reached that number in just two weeks,” says Marie-Laure Mahé, Essity Ventures’ project lead.

Meanwhile, P&G’s Tampax brand launched a campaign this year to address misinformation about periods and tampons, joining forces with comedian and actress Amy Schumer. Together they are on a mission to ensure people understand what is going on with their bodies so they can take control over their periods, feel educated and empowered about using tampons and have a more comfortable experience.

“We thought a lot about whether or not to kick off this new period education campaign now. While we paused to shift focus to support more urgent needs, we decided that because periods aren’t stopping, we shouldn’t either,” says Melissa Suk, vice president of North America Tampax and Always. “When we chose to focus on tampon and period education, we knew Amy Schumer was a perfect fit because Amy doesn’t shy away from anything. Our goal is to make period and tampon conversations as normal as periods and the first step is getting people comfortable talking about them. We hope this partnership and our new, engaging ‘edu-tainment’ period and tampon content will encourage more people to laugh, talk and learn about them.”

“When I started working with Tampax, it made my heart hurt to hear about the discomfort people are putting up with because they don’t understand periods or even how to use a tampon properly, and I want to do everything I can to change that,” Schumer says. “My hope is that through this partnership, we’ll educate ourselves and each other and take the senseless shame out of getting your period.”

Schumer is featured in a series of comedic videos that are aimed at teaching people about their periods and tampons. Schumer is joined in this campaign by medical expert Dr. Melisa Holmes, OB/GYN and co-founder of Girlology, a leading health education community, to answer burning questions people have about their bodies, periods and tampons.

In addition to this campaign, over the last year Tampax has donated more than 8 million tampons to people in need through partners including Matthew 25 Ministries, Feeding America and Good+ Foundation.

For its part, Organyc recently launched a program to provide free feminine care products to Food Banks in the U.S. and it is expanding this program globally in 2021.

The program was first piloted with a food bank in Alcoa, TN, in the U.S., and it worked well, Stevan says. “Women face economic hardship for many reasons, and while food banks have been terrific about providing food and other staples, there was a glaring lack of feminine care and adult care products. All women should Expect Respect no matter what circumstance life presents. We can do our part towards this goal by giving them access to the best feminine care and adult care products.”

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//www.hygiene-industry.com? ?1) 2021

Forty years of menstruation—that is about 2400 days or 6.5 years in every woman’s lifetime—and still menstruation is a topic a lot of woman are uncomfortable with. Maybe that’s why for a long time nobody has dared to talk about one considerable challenge that comes with the period: The average woman uses up to 17,000 period products in her life and more than 90% of those are single-use products. That corresponds to an annual amount of 75,000-125,000 tons of “period waste” in Germany, Austria and Switzerland alone.

The problem: Almost all sanitary napkins contain crude-oil-based components that are not biodegradable. Ending up in landfills or in our oceans, these plastic items can take hundreds of years to disintegrate—and even then, they remain in our environment as microplastics.

So, why don’t more women switch to eco-friendly alternatives for their menstrual hygiene needs? Yes, the call for eco-friendly alternatives is getting louder, but women must be able to completely rely on a period product. Alternative hygiene products will only be accepted when they deliver the same performance as their synthetic counterparts.

Kelheim Fibres, renowned Bavarian viscose speciality fiber manufacturer, is now tackling this topic.

“Our absorbent hygiene viscose fibers beat synthetic materials in terms of sustainability, and they beat other natural fibers in terms of performance. In contrast to other natural-based fibers, Kelheim’s viscose fibers can be customized in many ways during the production process: functional additives can be incorporated into the fiber’s matrix, the fiber’s cross-section can be modified or the dimensions of the fiber can be precisely defined,” says Dominik Mayer, R&D project manager at Kelheim Fibres.

With more than 40 years of experience as a partner of the tampon industry, the Bavarians have extensive and wide-ranging knowledge about absorbent hygiene fibers. But for sanitary pads, the demands are different: Every layer fulfils a specific function. The top layer is in direct contact to human skin. This layer must draw the liquid into the core of the pad, while staying dry outside and leaving a pleasant and soft feel on the skin. Kelheim’s hydrophobic fiber Olea is ideally suited for that job: This fiber doesn’t absorb liquids but stays dry while creating an extra tender top sheet—and beating not only synthetic fibers but even other natural fibers in softness.

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Kelheim’s premium tampon fiber Galaxy has proven effective in the ADL (Acquisition-Distribution-Layers) of feminine hygiene pads: Due to the trilobal cross section of the fiber, Galaxy creates capillary channels in between the single fibers in nonwovens constructions which offer an excellent wicking performance. Liquid is conducted quickly and efficiently away from the body and distributed evenly in the absorbent core. In comparison to other sustainable and conventional (synthetic) materials, Galaxy excels by faster acquisition, lower rewetting and an enhanced distribution.

Another example is Kelheim’s speciality fiber Bramante: It can store up to 260% of its own weight in liquids in its characteristic segmented hollow core. While other fabrics store liquids between the fibers in a nonwoven, Bramante absorbs the liquid inside the fiber. Bramante is therefore not only very absorbent, but it also excels in its retention capacity.

All of Kelheim’s fibers are made from 100% wood pulp, which comes only from certified and sustainably managed forests. They are fully biodegradable and vegan. Microorganisms in soil and in marine environment make sure that no residues remain after biodegradation.

Ira Frankenberger from the New Business Development team at Kelheim is convinced: “Our fibers can make a substantial contribution towards fully bio-based and biodegradable feminine hygiene products with a performance level comparable to that of synthetic products. Our goal is a fully bio-based solution for fem hy products.”

To this purpose, the speciality fiber manufacturers are following the open innovation concept and constantly seeking for innovative partners—from industry experts to scientific institutes or unconventional start-ups.

EUROPEAN PRODUCTION

EXCEEDS 3M TONNES IN 2020

Production of nonwovens in Greater Europe grew by 7.2% in 2020 to reach 3,075,615 tonnes (and 85.9 billion square metres) with a total estimated turnover of €9,555 million.

The latest figures from EDANA, which demonstrate the industry’s drive and durability during a period of unprecedented change to demand drivers and supply chains, also show that the total output of the 27 European Union countries is now over 2.15 million tonnes.

Jacques Prigneaux, EDANA’s Market Analysis and Economic Affairs Director elaborated on the main drivers for the impressive growth rate, which well outpaced the annual average growth rate over the last decade of 4.0%. “The highest demand for materials intensively used to fight the pandemic impacted the production,” he said. “Spunmelt and Drylaid-Hydroentangled nonwovens witnessed two-digit growth rates in both weight and surface area. Thanks to the development in similar applications, the growth in the Wetlaid nonwovens was also substantial last year. Airlaid production, with opposite trends in different applications, recorded a flat situation compared to a year before.”

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//www.hygiene-industry.com? ?1) 2021

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The report also shows that the main end-use for nonwovens remained the hygiene market with a 28% share of deliveries, amounting to 857,940 tonnes,a 9.6% growth in 2020. Unsurprisingly,the most significant growth areas for nonwovens in 2020 were observed in medical (+118.0%) and wipes/personal wipes (+22.0%) followed by garments(+32.6 %).

In contrast, major declines were noticed in automotive interiors (down 23%), floor coverings, table linen and interlinings. Additionally, several important durable sectors in terms of volumes sold, such as in construction markets and liquid filtration showed limited growth and, in the case of agricultural applications, negative growth.

“Thanks to a convergence of efforts of the participating companies and of the EDANA staff in the last few years, these results are based on the collection of actual data from an increasing number of

companies and not less than 118 companies/plants directly reported their 2020 returns this year,” Prigneaux added.

“More and more accurate figures will certainly make these statistics ever more relevant for planning and benchmarking purposes within member companies.”

Pierre Wiertz, General Manager of EDANA added: “Behind those figures we see first and foremost the efforts and labour of thousands of women and men who can be proud of working for

companies whose purpose has always been, but is perhaps now recognised better than ever, to contribute to deliver excellence for the well-being and health of fellow citizens.

“The modest and yet essential role of these annual EDANA statistics – the most comprehensive available in the world – has been now for 50 years, to document this performance and provide this unique source of business intelligence to our member companies, thanks to direct input from producers and exhaustive market insight.”

Further statistical detail and analysis is available in the report “2020 European Nonwovens Market Insights”, shared with all EDANA members. EDANA members who are nonwoven producers

will receive more detailed data, in recognition of their survey participation.

Members can also access comprehensive figures across a full range of applications and production processes via the EDANA Statistics App.