09.08.22
Charlotte, NC
www.glatfelter.com
2021 Nonwovens Sales: $1.1 billion
Key Personnel
Thomas Fahnemann, chief executive officer; Ramesh Shettigar, senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer; Chris W. Astley, senior vice president and chief commercial officer; Wolfgang Laures, senior vice president, Integrated Global Supply Chain & IT
Plants
American Facilities - Charlotte, NC; Asheville, NC; Mount Holly, NC; Fort Smith, AR; Gainesville, GA; York, PA; Memphis, TN; Old Hickory, TN; Gatineau, QC; Buenos Aires, Argentina; San José, Costa Rica; Mexico City, Mexico
European Facilities - Scaër, France; Soultz, France; Dresden, Germany; Falkenhagen, Germany; Gernsbach, Germany; Ober-Schmitten, Germany; Steinfurt, Germany; Milan, Italy; Moscow, Russia; Asturias, Spain; Basel, Switzerland; Zug, Switzerland; Caerphilly, United Kingdom; Lydney, United Kingdom
Asia Pacific Facilities - Suzhou, China; Shanghai, China; Lanao del Norte, Philippines; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, Korea; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Major Applications/Segments
Personal care and hygiene products; food and beverage filtration, critical cleaning products, medical and personal protection, packaging products, as well as home improvement and industrial applications
In 2021, Glatfelter’s sales exceeded $1 billion, making the company one of the world’s key airlaid manufacturers, along with the manufacture of its wetlaid and spunlace substrates. The company increased market demand despite the effects from pandemic-driven inflation and global supply-chain disruptions. Throughout this time, Glatfelter kept its facilities running successfully and continuously fulfilled demand on behalf of its customers which produce some of the world’s most well-known essential consumer staples, according to senior vice president & chief commercial officer Chris Astley.
“We strove to mitigate the impact of these extraordinary global conditions as the company remained committed to its growth strategies,” he says. “This included undergoing a strategic transformation focused on becoming a leading engineered materials company by accelerating growth through acquisitions, organic growth, supply chain effectiveness, product innovation with a focus on sustainability, and brand awareness.”
In recent years the company has grown largely through major acquisitions. In early 2021, Glatfelter cemented its footprint as a producer of airlaid nonwovens through the $175 million acquisition of Georgia-Pacific’s North American operations, including a large-scale airlaid line in Mount Holly, NC, and a research and development center in Memphis, TN. Glatfelter acquired G-P’s European operations, including an airlaid line in Steinfurt, Germany, in 2018 for $185 million.
The Georgia-Pacific transaction was followed by another sizable acquisition, Jacob Holm Industries, in October 2021 for approximately $300 million. The addition of Jacob Holm, which primarily makes spunlace nonwovens for wipes applications, expanded Glatfelter’s scale and diversification into high-performing and innovative spunlace nonwoven technologies. This includes the Sontara product portfolio, a globally renowned brand for high-end critical cleaning wipes, surgical drapes and gowns, wound care materials and facial masks. Sontara products deliver unique properties and are made using proprietary technology. Sontara uses no binders, chemicals or adhesives. It has exceptional mechanical strength and excellent absorbency and exhibits very low lint.
“The successful integrations of Mount Holly and Spunlace and realization of their synergies remain key imperatives for Glatfelter,” says Ramesh Shettigar senior vice president, chief finance officer & treasurer. “We are confident these new acquisitions will deliver long-term value to our customers and shareholders through portfolio diversification, technology expansion, accelerated innovation and enhanced scale. Despite the prevailing global challenges with inflation, supply chain constraints and pandemic-driven disruptions, we believe these acquisitions position Glatfelter favorably and bolster our leading position in the broader nonwovens sector. As we continue our efforts to fully integrate these acquisitions, we are focused on building Glatfelter’s proven track record of operational excellence, cost optimization and strong cash flow generation.”
Glatfelter’s Airlaid Materials segment finished the 2021 year with a revenue of approximately $470 million. The global markets served by airlaid materials continue to have significant potential for growth. Glatfelter focused on maintaining and expanding relationships with customers that are market-leading consumer product companies, as well as companies converting and distributing through private label arrangements; capitalizing on its product and process innovation capabilities, including developing plastic-free technologies; expanding the geographic reach of markets served; optimizing the use of existing production capacity; and employing continuous improvement methodologies and initiatives to reduce costs, improve supply chain and create additional capacity.
Developing new applications for airlaid is also a priority for Glatfelter, which partnered with Blue Ocean Closures and ALPLA, to develop a cellulose-based airlaid bottle cap. Blue Ocean Closures is reportedly the first company to develop an innovative concept for fiber-based screw cap solutions that are fully biobased, ocean biodegradable and recyclable. This is achieved through excellence in material know-how and a cost-effective production concept using advanced, proprietary press forming.
“Combining the knowledge of fiber physics and airlaid technology, along with packaging and tool building, provided a means to manufacture cellulose-based screw caps with high form stability, excellent technical functionality, and a torque capability that the material could handle,” Astley says.
This partnership was awarded the IDEA22 Sustainability Advancement Award and is a finalist for the 2022 Packaging Europe Sustainability Award in the Recyclable Packaging (Pre-Commercialized) category for their innovative, sustainable, fiber-based screw caps. These awards were created to recognize companies that demonstrate excellence in innovation, sustainable product offerings, and outstanding contributions to the nonwovens and packaging markets.
Glatfelter’s Composite Fibers Business Segment reported annual net sales of approximately $560 million in 2021. This segment processes specialty long fibers, primarily from natural sources such as abaca and other materials, to create premium value-added products in the categories of food & beverage, wall cover, technical specialties, composite laminates, and metallized products. Many of the markets served by composite fibers present attractive growth opportunities due to evolving consumer preferences, new or emerging geographic markets and new product innovation, which enables superior products and quality.
For tea and coffee filter applications the newly developed Dynagreen product portfolio offers the most sustainable options in the market and is the first heat-sealable best-in-class filter paper in its category. These heat-sealable filters are made of compostable and biodegradable fibers such as abaca, cellulose and polylactic acid.
Glatfelter prioritizes the value of sustainability by focusing efforts on areas where products have the greatest local and global impact. By doing so, Glatfelter uses natural fibers to create products rooted in nature and engineered for performance.
For Glatfelter's 2020 top company profile, click here.
www.glatfelter.com
2021 Nonwovens Sales: $1.1 billion
Key Personnel
Thomas Fahnemann, chief executive officer; Ramesh Shettigar, senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer; Chris W. Astley, senior vice president and chief commercial officer; Wolfgang Laures, senior vice president, Integrated Global Supply Chain & IT
Plants
American Facilities - Charlotte, NC; Asheville, NC; Mount Holly, NC; Fort Smith, AR; Gainesville, GA; York, PA; Memphis, TN; Old Hickory, TN; Gatineau, QC; Buenos Aires, Argentina; San José, Costa Rica; Mexico City, Mexico
European Facilities - Scaër, France; Soultz, France; Dresden, Germany; Falkenhagen, Germany; Gernsbach, Germany; Ober-Schmitten, Germany; Steinfurt, Germany; Milan, Italy; Moscow, Russia; Asturias, Spain; Basel, Switzerland; Zug, Switzerland; Caerphilly, United Kingdom; Lydney, United Kingdom
Asia Pacific Facilities - Suzhou, China; Shanghai, China; Lanao del Norte, Philippines; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, Korea; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Major Applications/Segments
Personal care and hygiene products; food and beverage filtration, critical cleaning products, medical and personal protection, packaging products, as well as home improvement and industrial applications
In 2021, Glatfelter’s sales exceeded $1 billion, making the company one of the world’s key airlaid manufacturers, along with the manufacture of its wetlaid and spunlace substrates. The company increased market demand despite the effects from pandemic-driven inflation and global supply-chain disruptions. Throughout this time, Glatfelter kept its facilities running successfully and continuously fulfilled demand on behalf of its customers which produce some of the world’s most well-known essential consumer staples, according to senior vice president & chief commercial officer Chris Astley.
“We strove to mitigate the impact of these extraordinary global conditions as the company remained committed to its growth strategies,” he says. “This included undergoing a strategic transformation focused on becoming a leading engineered materials company by accelerating growth through acquisitions, organic growth, supply chain effectiveness, product innovation with a focus on sustainability, and brand awareness.”
In recent years the company has grown largely through major acquisitions. In early 2021, Glatfelter cemented its footprint as a producer of airlaid nonwovens through the $175 million acquisition of Georgia-Pacific’s North American operations, including a large-scale airlaid line in Mount Holly, NC, and a research and development center in Memphis, TN. Glatfelter acquired G-P’s European operations, including an airlaid line in Steinfurt, Germany, in 2018 for $185 million.
The Georgia-Pacific transaction was followed by another sizable acquisition, Jacob Holm Industries, in October 2021 for approximately $300 million. The addition of Jacob Holm, which primarily makes spunlace nonwovens for wipes applications, expanded Glatfelter’s scale and diversification into high-performing and innovative spunlace nonwoven technologies. This includes the Sontara product portfolio, a globally renowned brand for high-end critical cleaning wipes, surgical drapes and gowns, wound care materials and facial masks. Sontara products deliver unique properties and are made using proprietary technology. Sontara uses no binders, chemicals or adhesives. It has exceptional mechanical strength and excellent absorbency and exhibits very low lint.
“The successful integrations of Mount Holly and Spunlace and realization of their synergies remain key imperatives for Glatfelter,” says Ramesh Shettigar senior vice president, chief finance officer & treasurer. “We are confident these new acquisitions will deliver long-term value to our customers and shareholders through portfolio diversification, technology expansion, accelerated innovation and enhanced scale. Despite the prevailing global challenges with inflation, supply chain constraints and pandemic-driven disruptions, we believe these acquisitions position Glatfelter favorably and bolster our leading position in the broader nonwovens sector. As we continue our efforts to fully integrate these acquisitions, we are focused on building Glatfelter’s proven track record of operational excellence, cost optimization and strong cash flow generation.”
Glatfelter’s Airlaid Materials segment finished the 2021 year with a revenue of approximately $470 million. The global markets served by airlaid materials continue to have significant potential for growth. Glatfelter focused on maintaining and expanding relationships with customers that are market-leading consumer product companies, as well as companies converting and distributing through private label arrangements; capitalizing on its product and process innovation capabilities, including developing plastic-free technologies; expanding the geographic reach of markets served; optimizing the use of existing production capacity; and employing continuous improvement methodologies and initiatives to reduce costs, improve supply chain and create additional capacity.
Developing new applications for airlaid is also a priority for Glatfelter, which partnered with Blue Ocean Closures and ALPLA, to develop a cellulose-based airlaid bottle cap. Blue Ocean Closures is reportedly the first company to develop an innovative concept for fiber-based screw cap solutions that are fully biobased, ocean biodegradable and recyclable. This is achieved through excellence in material know-how and a cost-effective production concept using advanced, proprietary press forming.
“Combining the knowledge of fiber physics and airlaid technology, along with packaging and tool building, provided a means to manufacture cellulose-based screw caps with high form stability, excellent technical functionality, and a torque capability that the material could handle,” Astley says.
This partnership was awarded the IDEA22 Sustainability Advancement Award and is a finalist for the 2022 Packaging Europe Sustainability Award in the Recyclable Packaging (Pre-Commercialized) category for their innovative, sustainable, fiber-based screw caps. These awards were created to recognize companies that demonstrate excellence in innovation, sustainable product offerings, and outstanding contributions to the nonwovens and packaging markets.
Glatfelter’s Composite Fibers Business Segment reported annual net sales of approximately $560 million in 2021. This segment processes specialty long fibers, primarily from natural sources such as abaca and other materials, to create premium value-added products in the categories of food & beverage, wall cover, technical specialties, composite laminates, and metallized products. Many of the markets served by composite fibers present attractive growth opportunities due to evolving consumer preferences, new or emerging geographic markets and new product innovation, which enables superior products and quality.
For tea and coffee filter applications the newly developed Dynagreen product portfolio offers the most sustainable options in the market and is the first heat-sealable best-in-class filter paper in its category. These heat-sealable filters are made of compostable and biodegradable fibers such as abaca, cellulose and polylactic acid.
Glatfelter prioritizes the value of sustainability by focusing efforts on areas where products have the greatest local and global impact. By doing so, Glatfelter uses natural fibers to create products rooted in nature and engineered for performance.
For Glatfelter's 2020 top company profile, click here.