09.11.23
Schwarzenbach/Saale, Germany
www.sandler.de
2022 Nonwovens Sales: $470 million
Key Personnel
Dr. Christian Heinrich Sandler, CEO; Wolfgang Höflich, board member & chief production officer; Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck, board member & chief commercial officer; Tobias Baumgärtel, president, Sandler Nonwoven Corporation
Plants
Sandler AG, Schwarzenbach/Saale, Germany
Sandler Nonwoven Corporation, Perry, GA, U.S.
Processes
Carded, waddings and drylaid nonwovens, thermally bonded, meltblown, needlepunched, air-through bonded, spunlaced, coating, embossing and aperturing, composites
Brands
sawabond, sawaloom, sawaloft, sawaflor, sawatex, sawascreen, sawaform, sawasoft, sawasorb, bluefiber, fibercomfort, bio textile by sandler, enAIRsave
Continuing to focus on innovation, particularly how it relates to sustainable product offerings, has defined Sandler Nonwovens’ scope during the past few years. With plants in Georgia and Germany, the company has not made a significant line investment announcement recently and has instead focused on improving its operations as well as its product offerings.
“We will continue to invest but the direction of our investments will change,”says board member and CCO Ulrich Hornfeck. “We will invest in more cost efficiency and technologies that allow us to make products that offer better biodegradability and recyclability.”
Sandler’s most recent investment—a proprietary production line in Perry, GA—came onstream in early 2021. Described as a hybrid line, the new investment is meeting growing demand for nonwovens in North America. Additionally, a new meltblown line, announced in 2020 and completed one year later in Germany, has allowed Sandler to target technical applications, not limited to face mask applications, like building materials and filtration media.
As it assesses its operations in Germany and the U.S., Sandler will continue to focus on sustainability, investing in the future in all areas of the company, not just in its product offerings but also in its processes to reduce its ecological footprint.
“It is one thing to use a more sustainable material but you also have to look at how much energy you use or how much water,” Hornfeck says. “There are many things that need to be considered when you are talking about sustainability.”
Currently, 40% of Sandler’s raw materials are either biobased or recyclable, and this number is growing. “We are also moving toward using more single source polymers to ensure easier recyclability,” he says. “Instead of focusing on plastic-free, focusing on product life cycle is the issue.
“We look at the whole value chain and see what is the best solution for our customers and for the planet,” Hornfeck says.
What is challenging is developing these alternatives while still achieving high performance standards at affordable price points. “The big ‘but’ in all of our discussions is will customers buy it, will they pay more for it, will it work okay,” Hornfeck says. “These are always the questions you have to ask.”
Earlier this year, Sandler teamed up with viscose specialty fiber manufacturer Kelheim Fibres and hygiene manufacturer pelzGroup to develop a plastic-free panty liner. This innovative solution is a step towards reducing the amount of plastic in hygiene products – and thus also a contribution to tackling the global problem of plastic pollution.
Beyond hygiene, Sandler continues to focus heavily on acoustics. Last year, it launched the bluefiber acoustics brand, which combines a wide range of acoustically highly efficient materials – polyester-based high-tech made in Germany.
Owing to their excellent sound absorption properties the lightweight textile materials offer an ideal basis for individual interior design concepts, creating a pleasant living space. Self-supporting panels and pads in different thicknesses, performance types and color versions; flexible roll goods, optimally adaptable to component contours; or custom-made solutions for a specific application: bluefiber products are ready to use, combining function and design.
www.sandler.de
2022 Nonwovens Sales: $470 million
Key Personnel
Dr. Christian Heinrich Sandler, CEO; Wolfgang Höflich, board member & chief production officer; Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck, board member & chief commercial officer; Tobias Baumgärtel, president, Sandler Nonwoven Corporation
Plants
Sandler AG, Schwarzenbach/Saale, Germany
Sandler Nonwoven Corporation, Perry, GA, U.S.
Processes
Carded, waddings and drylaid nonwovens, thermally bonded, meltblown, needlepunched, air-through bonded, spunlaced, coating, embossing and aperturing, composites
Brands
sawabond, sawaloom, sawaloft, sawaflor, sawatex, sawascreen, sawaform, sawasoft, sawasorb, bluefiber, fibercomfort, bio textile by sandler, enAIRsave
Continuing to focus on innovation, particularly how it relates to sustainable product offerings, has defined Sandler Nonwovens’ scope during the past few years. With plants in Georgia and Germany, the company has not made a significant line investment announcement recently and has instead focused on improving its operations as well as its product offerings.
“We will continue to invest but the direction of our investments will change,”says board member and CCO Ulrich Hornfeck. “We will invest in more cost efficiency and technologies that allow us to make products that offer better biodegradability and recyclability.”
Sandler’s most recent investment—a proprietary production line in Perry, GA—came onstream in early 2021. Described as a hybrid line, the new investment is meeting growing demand for nonwovens in North America. Additionally, a new meltblown line, announced in 2020 and completed one year later in Germany, has allowed Sandler to target technical applications, not limited to face mask applications, like building materials and filtration media.
As it assesses its operations in Germany and the U.S., Sandler will continue to focus on sustainability, investing in the future in all areas of the company, not just in its product offerings but also in its processes to reduce its ecological footprint.
“It is one thing to use a more sustainable material but you also have to look at how much energy you use or how much water,” Hornfeck says. “There are many things that need to be considered when you are talking about sustainability.”
Currently, 40% of Sandler’s raw materials are either biobased or recyclable, and this number is growing. “We are also moving toward using more single source polymers to ensure easier recyclability,” he says. “Instead of focusing on plastic-free, focusing on product life cycle is the issue.
“We look at the whole value chain and see what is the best solution for our customers and for the planet,” Hornfeck says.
What is challenging is developing these alternatives while still achieving high performance standards at affordable price points. “The big ‘but’ in all of our discussions is will customers buy it, will they pay more for it, will it work okay,” Hornfeck says. “These are always the questions you have to ask.”
Earlier this year, Sandler teamed up with viscose specialty fiber manufacturer Kelheim Fibres and hygiene manufacturer pelzGroup to develop a plastic-free panty liner. This innovative solution is a step towards reducing the amount of plastic in hygiene products – and thus also a contribution to tackling the global problem of plastic pollution.
Beyond hygiene, Sandler continues to focus heavily on acoustics. Last year, it launched the bluefiber acoustics brand, which combines a wide range of acoustically highly efficient materials – polyester-based high-tech made in Germany.
Owing to their excellent sound absorption properties the lightweight textile materials offer an ideal basis for individual interior design concepts, creating a pleasant living space. Self-supporting panels and pads in different thicknesses, performance types and color versions; flexible roll goods, optimally adaptable to component contours; or custom-made solutions for a specific application: bluefiber products are ready to use, combining function and design.