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The Evolving Roles Of Nonwovens In Technical Textiles
By Dr. Dong Zhang
Textile Research Associates
Clarksville, TN
The textile industry is one of the largest consumer-supported industries with significant impact on the worldwide economy. Advancements in applications of nonwovens technology to improve textile properties offer a great economic potential for the industry’s growth. It has been demonstrated in recent years that nonwovens technology can be used to enhance technical textile attributes, such as durability, breathability, water repellency, fire retardancy, antimicrobial properties, absorbency and barrier properties, etc. By weight, technical textiles represent about 40% of the total textile industry. In 2007 the worldwide market for technical textiles was estimated around 21 million tons with a value of $115 billion. It will increase to 24 million tons with a value of $127 billion by 2010.
Among technical textiles, about 40% are nonwovens in terms of tonnage. The drivers for future growth of the industry are mainly expected to be emerging markets like Asian countries (China and India), Eastern European countries and South America.
