Karen McIntyre, Editor12.03.21
Today’s global hygiene market is faced with myriad challenges including escalating raw material costs, supply chain disruptions, cost pressures and an overriding demand to increase the environmental footprint of the product without sacrificing quality. Amidst these challenges, however, suppliers to this market continue to value it for its strong opportunities for growth.
The emergence of smaller players in key hygiene markets like baby diapers and feminine hygiene have significantly transformed the way players in these categories do business. Not only have brands like Honest diapers and Cora feminine hygiene items responded to the consumers’ need for more natural products and increased ingredient transparency, many have proven that consumers are willing to pay more for these products if they address certain needs.
Therefore, it’s not just the major producers like Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble who are influencing design trends and pricing levels in the disposable diaper market. Smaller brands with a clear message to their chosen consumers have been able to influence the way this market does business thanks to social media outlets, e-commerce sites and subscription models.
“Massive production for a cost-efficient product does not bring a competition power in the long-term because end-users enjoyed the luxury of baby diapers and feminine care hygiene from boutique brands,” says Tuba Boduroglu, business development manager of Korozo. “The big manufacturers also followed that trend and heard the voices of the end users: Instead of commodity products, big manufacturers also see the demand for premium aspects on the final products. From a suppliers’ perspective, searching for the best-fit and at the same time a convincing alternative for the research and development teams as a replacement of an existing product are a big challenge.”
A maker of closure technologies, Korozo has focused on developing recyclable materials for hygiene products. “The key challenges for suppliers in this industry are producing cost-effective and highly performing products at the same time. From the procurement point of view, finding premium raw materials and sustainability of regular products during these difficult times is needed to meet the expectations of the customers,” Karakus adds.
Diaper market newcomer Kudos combines a natural ingredient story with a focus on fit and performance. The diapers, developed by an MIT grad and former P&G employee, feature 100% cotton touching the baby’s skin as well as patent-pending DoubleDry technology to handle moisture and provide overnight-level reliability with two layers of protection instead of one.
Kudos diapers, which were introduced this year, fetch a price of about 45 cents per diaper, significantly higher than about 25 cents for Pampers Baby Dry diapers, P&G’s mid-tier brand. Where once diaper pricing seemed to be a race to the bottom as major brands competed primarily on costs, there continues to be more opportunities for value adds in the market.
“Our consumer research showed that whether it’s food, clothing, or baby products like diapers, today’s parents are looking for safe and sustainable plant-based options. Working with plant-based materials in a baby diaper presented some challenges when designing Kudos. It was critical that we understood the options available to us with nonwoven fibers and processes so we could design a diaper that would be effective, environmentally friendly and manufacturable,” says CEO and founder Amrita Saigal.
“In recent past, we have seen the development of several new hygienic brands,” says Carmine Cimini, chief technology officer, Texol. “Most of them are positioning their brand under a sustainable profile and they leverage on the digital marketing as main way of communication. The approach to manufacture their product is through contract manufacturing and defining very clear quality standards in terms of product/material safety. They leverage their brand positioning on clear communication with the customer, requiring formal certification released by authoritative organizations and they focus to attract target consumer focusing on ‘natural’ ‘green’ products.”
Innovating to a more natural product is not just the work of smaller players in hygiene. Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest diaper manufacturer with the Pampers and Luvs brands, has found that parents are looking for natural options without sacrificing fit. This led to the creation of Pampers Pure Protection Hybrid Diapers, its first diapering system that is part reusable, part disposable. The Pure Protection Hybrid Diaper uses trusted Pampers technology and provides superior dryness and leak protection from a diaper that uses 25% less disposable materials.
P&G found that many parents try cloth diapers but not as many continue 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.
“At Pampers, we’ve spent thousands of hours speaking with and listening to parents globally about what will best fit their needs,” says Marty Vanderstelt, father of two and senior vice president – North America Baby Care. “That’s why we’ve created Pampers Pure Protection Hybrid for parents who want a diaper that produces less waste, but still seek the convenience and protection of a disposable diaper. Pampers Pure Protection Hybrid is one of our many steps forward in the journey to a sustainable planet, and a happy, healthy future for every baby.”
The Pampers Pure Protection brand also includes traditional baby diapers and wipes featuring plant-based materials. It was launched in 2018 in response to parents’ need for a more natural diaper. Meanwhile, throughout all of its diaper brands, Pampers continues to innovate toward more sustainable diapering solutions to use 30% less diapering materials per baby over their diapering time. Over the past 25 years, Pampers has reduced its disposable diaper weight by 50% and its packaging by 70%, generating less use of resources in our products.
“Certainly the market is different to how it was just two years ago; suppliers will need to have adapted to the impact of the pandemic and related supply and cost challenges,” says Paul Andrews, global marketing communications manager, Bostik. “That said, we believe that it continues to be a dynamic market with good opportunity for long term growth for companies who are flexible, agile, innovative and operating with customer and consumer needs at their center.”
In recent months, supply, logistic and cost challenges have impacted the entire supply chain, which has already been challenged by consumer need for greater transparency. At Bostik, the company has been adapting its business to be able to manage these as efficiently as possible while at the same time minimizing the impact on its loyal and valuable customer base across the globe.
Outside of these challenges, the hygiene market is not experiencing the unit growth that it once was, particularly in the more mature geographies where birth rates continue to fall, which will no doubt negatively contribute to future sales growth of baby diapers in these countries and regions.
Therefore the entire supply chain has turned its attention to stronger market opportunities whether that be geographical regions with the higher potential for geographic growth or market segments that are less mature, like adult incontinence.
Lightening Up
As diaper manufacturers and their suppliers are looking to do more with less and reduce the overall weights of their diapers, lowering base weights has been a top priority. At films supplier Texol, the company delivers a perforated topsheet at lower basis weight as well as one solution with a new perforation pattern to make the change more visible for consumers. Achieving this while also creating a softer to skin product has created more challenges when it comes to converting.
“Lower basis weights with higher softness create an engineering contradiction that in Texol we have been able to solve either via the development of specific formulation as well as via the implementation of our converting capabilities,” Cimini says. “More recently we have started the work with PIR polymers to address the need to develop more sustainable formulation.”
The trend in the hygienic segment for the use of laminate composites has created the need to deliver superior technologies at affordable prices. Texol has seen the use of laminates for topsheet applications as well as for backsheet application. While the need to use high performing material for topsheets is obvious, it is relevant to highlight that even nonwoven technologies such as air through bonded have been applied for backsheet lamination. Another application is the elastic fastening system for baby diapers where you can have different solution of combination film/nonwoven pending the tear application.
This trend has favored the partnership between film and nonwoven suppliers with the objective to deliver an affordable solution. Nevertheless the higher advantage is coming from organizations having the opportunity for internal sourcing because of the availability of internal film as well as nonwoven capabilities. Texol is able to provide both spunlace and air through bonded nonwovens to its partners in the hygiene market, which allows it to offer a broader offering to its customers.
Certainly, consolidation between films and nonwovens suppliers continues. Earlier this year, Fitesa, a major producer of spunbond and spunlaced nonwovens for the global hygiene market, acquired Tredegar Corporation’s personal care films business, which not only increased its supply scope in the hygiene market but also added manufacturing sites located in Terre Haute, IN, Kerkrade, The Netherlands; Rétság, Hungary; Diadema, Brazil, and Pune, India.
Fitesa had already been involved in the films business through the acquisition of Pantex in 2017.
“We are happy to announce this investment which reinforces our commitment to innovation and growth. We are continuously looking for opportunities to improve the value we create for our customers, employees, communities and shareholders. Fitesa is a strategic player that focuses on investments with a view to hold them for the long term. We believe this new acquisition, which was accomplished amidst a global crisis, is yet another demonstration of that,” says Silverio Baranzano, Fitesa’s CEO.
Like, Fitesa, the world’s largest nonwovens producer Berry Global also has a significant films business including its organic business as well as operations it acquired from Clopay in 2019. Last year, Berry announced it was embarking on a three-phase expansion of its Sof-Flex film business that addresses both extrusion and printing capabilities. The $20 million investment will span the company’s U.S.-based network of breathable film producing plants and will meet growing breathable film and sustainable product market demands in the North American region. The investment will include added capacity for Berry’s proprietary Sof-Flex technology and the addition of the newest flexographic printing equipment. The Sof-Flex technology allows for the sustainable, down-weighting of breathable films while maintaining best-in-class performance.
“We are excited to expand our Sof-Flex breathable film capacity. Our patent protected technology enhances hygiene and healthcare products across the globe. From sustainable and cost effective solutions through light-weight product designs, to new breathable functionality in incontinence products, Sof-Flex enables our customers to achieve their most critical product performance objectives,” says Robert Weilminster, EVP and GM, for Berry’s hygiene markets in the U.S. and Canada.
Also in expansion mode is Poligof. The company’s board of directors has approved the investment in state-of-the-art extrusion and printing for its Italian operations in Mira, near Venice. The project includes the installation of a multilayer blown extrusion and MDO line, combined with an eight-colors flexo press. Both pieces of equipments will be supplied by Windmoeller & Hoelscher and will enable Poligof to increase its capacity for printed breathable films by 300 million square meters per year.
“(The investment) is based on a simple concept—to offer the market more capacity in order to better manage demand ups and downs, following the growing request of high performing, cost efficient breathable backsheet film,” says CEO Luca Parolari. “This technology was developed together with Windmoeller & Hoelscher, the most advanced machinery supplier for this kind of products, both in terms of film production and printing technology.”
Moreover, the investment will allow Poligof to match the growing demand for high-yield, low-gsm breathable films, and contribute to reduce the overall use of plastics in disposable hygiene products. Currently, Poligof forecasts a 50% plastic reduction compared to standard films in 2022, which will naturally and significantly reduce the carbon footprint of Poligof’s backsheet offerings. The company will partially achieve this through the introduction of PoliGreen and PoliBlue films made from renewable sources, PoliBIO, a biodegradable and compostable material, and PoliECO, containing a minimum of 50% recycled-safe polymers content.
“Today the world is changing and—at least in more developed countries—sustainability is superseding other issues, and has become the absolute priority in any marketing strategy,” says Parolari. “The hygiene industry has understood that—in addition to protection which has become very clear to everybody especially in the last 18 months—it must promote and implement sustainability, offering a less impactful production process and overall creating products which can be part of a circular economy. Our task—as an industry—is to show that a single-use product does not only offer an outstanding protection but can also be environmentally neutral.”
Also in expansion mode is Exten, the innovative Swiss film and laminates producer for the hygiene, medical and technical market, which announced the installation of a new lamination line earlier this year.
After one year dedicated to help in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic with its laminates for gowns, overalls and elastic components for masks, Exten continues its development plant with this new investment. This new facility is contributing to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Exten foundation.
The new technologies adopted on the line will provide the market with the usual hot melt laminates as well as more sustainable new glue-less laminates thanks to its mono-material composition.
The new line versatility will allow it to provide the market with Exten’s actual range of product portfolio as well as to expand it with innovative novelties. The recently developed glueless stretch elastic ear, for example, presents improved technical characteristics and softness, resulting in a perfect fit and comfort for babies.
Exten, as done in the past, with this new line will help customers to develop customized solutions that will enable them to find the best option for their specific needs.
For hook specialist Binder, landing zones have become finer and thinner as the market moved from velour and lock loop systems to nonwovens and hook systems, which grips directly into the back, even without landing zones. This has improved the environmental footprint of the hygiene product.
“Through Binder’s constant innovation in coordination with side-tape producers, diaper producers and nonwoven producers we made our film fastener thinner, lighter and more economical in terms of material and optimized the performance,” says Emile Siemes, Business Development Manager Personal Care. “As less material was needed, a lower energy demand was required and less waste was produced. The landing zones became thinner and lighter and thus more sustainable. Nevertheless, our film fastener still needs to perform at the same high level as in the past. This has been quite a challenge.“
In October, Binder introduced a biodegradable film fastener. “After optimizing our hook geometry to the highest level, it was only logical to design – as the next step of sustainability – the material itself biodegradable,” Siemes says. “It is not completely clear yet, whether the road towards sustainable products will be guided by local legislations or if brand owners will bring their own view of biodegradability to the market. Binder will definitely expand its offering of biodegradable products even more in the future, keeping close contact with customers and other partners in the supply chain.”
Glued to Hygiene
For adhesives supplier Bostik, 2021 has been a particularly busy year. Recognizing that the market is changing, Bostik has not only introduced new products, but also new tools and initiatives to help its customers in operational efficiencies, and profitability and to improve their ability to manufacture more sustainable products and improve their customer’s confidence in the use of their products.
In March, Bostik introduced StayX , a new pad attachment adhesive for feminine or light incontinence pads, and Staybility, a new test method to enable the producer to better test the stay in place performance of their pads. These developments were driven by a recognized need to improve the consumer experience with their hygiene pads.
“We have already said that the adhesive is a very small part of the adhesive product; we believe it to be something like 3% of the product by weight. The demand of this 3% in terms of its processability, its performance, and of course the demands of the end user of the hygiene product are only ever going to increase,” says Andrews. “For a material that makes up just 3% of the product, the expectations are considerable, yet are often overlooked in the initial design of product.”
One way to substantially decrease the thickness of a product is with the implementation of different core designs, not only changing the fluff : SAP ratios, but utilizing an entirely different core design such as one with channels. Bostik has developed a comprehensive product line for cores, designed to bring the level of required core performance depending on the customer’s design.
“The adhesive is really the enabler; it needs to satisfy the operational objectives of the article producer, be easy and clean to use, cost efficient and bond to whatever substrates they choose to incorporate in their product,” Andrew says. “The increasing variety of substrates available to and used by our customers means we need to ensure process flexibility, and the desired level of performance is achievable at lower add-on levels or lower application temperatures. With the inclusion of more sustainable, or natural substrates in product designs, this need for this flexibility is increased.”
Bostik has recently launched Nuplaviva 50 and Nuplaviva 75 to enable the article producer to further increase the renewable content of their article and maintain the bond performance, processability and flexibility enjoyed with other Bostik construction adhesives.
At Henkel, recent adhesives developments have been compatible with sustainable substrates, allow the customer to reduce energy consumption and enable bonding with lesser amounts of adhesives and new packaging materials.
“As a global market leader in adhesives for personal hygiene products, we strongly believe in innovations that help to improve processes for our customers and the life of our consumers,” says Eilyn Meneses Villabona, Market Strategy Manager Personal Hygiene Adhesives EIMEA. “Key trends we are targeting are safety and purity, sustainability, operational efficiency, and consumer experiences such as softness and comfort. “
Henkel’s Technomelt Advance is the most novel generation of adhesive, ensuring excellent resource efficiency (mileage) and outstanding purity while Easyflow is a new-to-the-world adhesive form that is auto-feedable and air conveyable to eliminate manual handling, bringing a lot of benefits in occupational safety and line efficiency.
“Adhesives need to be compatible with the new materials coming to the market,” Villabona says. “We see a lot of bio polymers and natural substrates coming into product design. Our portfolio of adhesives has the right properties, and the flexibility to enable the manufacturing of new designs with bio-based substrates, while allowing for continuous upgrades and developments of materials.”
For adhesive supplier H.B. Fuller, the focus on sustainability led to the creation of high-performance boding solutions for more demanding natural substrates and adhesives with an increased biobased content. These next generation technologies and solutions can reduce the overall ecological footprint and support manufacturers’ overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and regulatory goals.
Being eco-conscious is more and more a reality and a major global trend. In fact, what began as a differentiator driven mainly by startups has now become a global effort by brand owners in the hygiene industry. The world is also operating under a new degree of regulatory pressure with focus on the circular economy which has been intensified by the use of mobile applications that allow consumers to easily check ingredients like never before. Other global, well-known initiatives, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS), have made it imperative for manufacturers to focus on environmental and safety concerns throughout the entire product lifecycle.
H.B. Fuller also offers expertise and global capabilities to help hygiene manufacturers address the rising demand for ingredient transparency and safety driven by consumer groups and non-governmental organizations. The ultimate goal is to help manufacturers deliver safe articles that are not only compliant, but are at even lower limits versus industry Substance of Interest (SOI) targets.
To support future growth, H.B. Fuller is building a new facility in Cairo to better serve Egypt, Turkey, the Middle East and Africa. The new factory will become a regional supply hub and a center of excellence for manufacturing for adhesives serving the hygiene, packaging, labeling, paper converting and graphic arts, among other industries.
The world-class production facility will fulfil industry-leading sustainability standards. With a gross area of 37,000 m2 in a two-story building, the planned site will be built at the well-equipped CPC Industrial Park, in the 6th of October industrial city in Cairo, which is considered a strategic location for manufacturing, and will commence full production in the last quarter of 2022.
H.B. Fuller has had a presence in Egypt since 2008 and this new strategic investment will allow them to grow and create new jobs opportunities in the region and offer improved quality, capacity to serve increased regional needs, excellent access to transportation and logistics advantages, and technical support to ensure a superior service that can help customers gain business value through their adhesive applications.
Recently, H.B. Fuller also has strengthened its adhesive business in Africa, with a robust commercial expansion in South Africa serving many market segments.
The emergence of smaller players in key hygiene markets like baby diapers and feminine hygiene have significantly transformed the way players in these categories do business. Not only have brands like Honest diapers and Cora feminine hygiene items responded to the consumers’ need for more natural products and increased ingredient transparency, many have proven that consumers are willing to pay more for these products if they address certain needs.
Therefore, it’s not just the major producers like Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble who are influencing design trends and pricing levels in the disposable diaper market. Smaller brands with a clear message to their chosen consumers have been able to influence the way this market does business thanks to social media outlets, e-commerce sites and subscription models.
“Massive production for a cost-efficient product does not bring a competition power in the long-term because end-users enjoyed the luxury of baby diapers and feminine care hygiene from boutique brands,” says Tuba Boduroglu, business development manager of Korozo. “The big manufacturers also followed that trend and heard the voices of the end users: Instead of commodity products, big manufacturers also see the demand for premium aspects on the final products. From a suppliers’ perspective, searching for the best-fit and at the same time a convincing alternative for the research and development teams as a replacement of an existing product are a big challenge.”
A maker of closure technologies, Korozo has focused on developing recyclable materials for hygiene products. “The key challenges for suppliers in this industry are producing cost-effective and highly performing products at the same time. From the procurement point of view, finding premium raw materials and sustainability of regular products during these difficult times is needed to meet the expectations of the customers,” Karakus adds.
Diaper market newcomer Kudos combines a natural ingredient story with a focus on fit and performance. The diapers, developed by an MIT grad and former P&G employee, feature 100% cotton touching the baby’s skin as well as patent-pending DoubleDry technology to handle moisture and provide overnight-level reliability with two layers of protection instead of one.
Kudos diapers, which were introduced this year, fetch a price of about 45 cents per diaper, significantly higher than about 25 cents for Pampers Baby Dry diapers, P&G’s mid-tier brand. Where once diaper pricing seemed to be a race to the bottom as major brands competed primarily on costs, there continues to be more opportunities for value adds in the market.
“Our consumer research showed that whether it’s food, clothing, or baby products like diapers, today’s parents are looking for safe and sustainable plant-based options. Working with plant-based materials in a baby diaper presented some challenges when designing Kudos. It was critical that we understood the options available to us with nonwoven fibers and processes so we could design a diaper that would be effective, environmentally friendly and manufacturable,” says CEO and founder Amrita Saigal.
“In recent past, we have seen the development of several new hygienic brands,” says Carmine Cimini, chief technology officer, Texol. “Most of them are positioning their brand under a sustainable profile and they leverage on the digital marketing as main way of communication. The approach to manufacture their product is through contract manufacturing and defining very clear quality standards in terms of product/material safety. They leverage their brand positioning on clear communication with the customer, requiring formal certification released by authoritative organizations and they focus to attract target consumer focusing on ‘natural’ ‘green’ products.”
Innovating to a more natural product is not just the work of smaller players in hygiene. Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest diaper manufacturer with the Pampers and Luvs brands, has found that parents are looking for natural options without sacrificing fit. This led to the creation of Pampers Pure Protection Hybrid Diapers, its first diapering system that is part reusable, part disposable. The Pure Protection Hybrid Diaper uses trusted Pampers technology and provides superior dryness and leak protection from a diaper that uses 25% less disposable materials.
P&G found that many parents try cloth diapers but not as many continue 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.
“At Pampers, we’ve spent thousands of hours speaking with and listening to parents globally about what will best fit their needs,” says Marty Vanderstelt, father of two and senior vice president – North America Baby Care. “That’s why we’ve created Pampers Pure Protection Hybrid for parents who want a diaper that produces less waste, but still seek the convenience and protection of a disposable diaper. Pampers Pure Protection Hybrid is one of our many steps forward in the journey to a sustainable planet, and a happy, healthy future for every baby.”
The Pampers Pure Protection brand also includes traditional baby diapers and wipes featuring plant-based materials. It was launched in 2018 in response to parents’ need for a more natural diaper. Meanwhile, throughout all of its diaper brands, Pampers continues to innovate toward more sustainable diapering solutions to use 30% less diapering materials per baby over their diapering time. Over the past 25 years, Pampers has reduced its disposable diaper weight by 50% and its packaging by 70%, generating less use of resources in our products.
“Certainly the market is different to how it was just two years ago; suppliers will need to have adapted to the impact of the pandemic and related supply and cost challenges,” says Paul Andrews, global marketing communications manager, Bostik. “That said, we believe that it continues to be a dynamic market with good opportunity for long term growth for companies who are flexible, agile, innovative and operating with customer and consumer needs at their center.”
In recent months, supply, logistic and cost challenges have impacted the entire supply chain, which has already been challenged by consumer need for greater transparency. At Bostik, the company has been adapting its business to be able to manage these as efficiently as possible while at the same time minimizing the impact on its loyal and valuable customer base across the globe.
Outside of these challenges, the hygiene market is not experiencing the unit growth that it once was, particularly in the more mature geographies where birth rates continue to fall, which will no doubt negatively contribute to future sales growth of baby diapers in these countries and regions.
Therefore the entire supply chain has turned its attention to stronger market opportunities whether that be geographical regions with the higher potential for geographic growth or market segments that are less mature, like adult incontinence.
Lightening Up
As diaper manufacturers and their suppliers are looking to do more with less and reduce the overall weights of their diapers, lowering base weights has been a top priority. At films supplier Texol, the company delivers a perforated topsheet at lower basis weight as well as one solution with a new perforation pattern to make the change more visible for consumers. Achieving this while also creating a softer to skin product has created more challenges when it comes to converting.
“Lower basis weights with higher softness create an engineering contradiction that in Texol we have been able to solve either via the development of specific formulation as well as via the implementation of our converting capabilities,” Cimini says. “More recently we have started the work with PIR polymers to address the need to develop more sustainable formulation.”
The trend in the hygienic segment for the use of laminate composites has created the need to deliver superior technologies at affordable prices. Texol has seen the use of laminates for topsheet applications as well as for backsheet application. While the need to use high performing material for topsheets is obvious, it is relevant to highlight that even nonwoven technologies such as air through bonded have been applied for backsheet lamination. Another application is the elastic fastening system for baby diapers where you can have different solution of combination film/nonwoven pending the tear application.
This trend has favored the partnership between film and nonwoven suppliers with the objective to deliver an affordable solution. Nevertheless the higher advantage is coming from organizations having the opportunity for internal sourcing because of the availability of internal film as well as nonwoven capabilities. Texol is able to provide both spunlace and air through bonded nonwovens to its partners in the hygiene market, which allows it to offer a broader offering to its customers.
Certainly, consolidation between films and nonwovens suppliers continues. Earlier this year, Fitesa, a major producer of spunbond and spunlaced nonwovens for the global hygiene market, acquired Tredegar Corporation’s personal care films business, which not only increased its supply scope in the hygiene market but also added manufacturing sites located in Terre Haute, IN, Kerkrade, The Netherlands; Rétság, Hungary; Diadema, Brazil, and Pune, India.
Fitesa had already been involved in the films business through the acquisition of Pantex in 2017.
“We are happy to announce this investment which reinforces our commitment to innovation and growth. We are continuously looking for opportunities to improve the value we create for our customers, employees, communities and shareholders. Fitesa is a strategic player that focuses on investments with a view to hold them for the long term. We believe this new acquisition, which was accomplished amidst a global crisis, is yet another demonstration of that,” says Silverio Baranzano, Fitesa’s CEO.
Like, Fitesa, the world’s largest nonwovens producer Berry Global also has a significant films business including its organic business as well as operations it acquired from Clopay in 2019. Last year, Berry announced it was embarking on a three-phase expansion of its Sof-Flex film business that addresses both extrusion and printing capabilities. The $20 million investment will span the company’s U.S.-based network of breathable film producing plants and will meet growing breathable film and sustainable product market demands in the North American region. The investment will include added capacity for Berry’s proprietary Sof-Flex technology and the addition of the newest flexographic printing equipment. The Sof-Flex technology allows for the sustainable, down-weighting of breathable films while maintaining best-in-class performance.
“We are excited to expand our Sof-Flex breathable film capacity. Our patent protected technology enhances hygiene and healthcare products across the globe. From sustainable and cost effective solutions through light-weight product designs, to new breathable functionality in incontinence products, Sof-Flex enables our customers to achieve their most critical product performance objectives,” says Robert Weilminster, EVP and GM, for Berry’s hygiene markets in the U.S. and Canada.
Also in expansion mode is Poligof. The company’s board of directors has approved the investment in state-of-the-art extrusion and printing for its Italian operations in Mira, near Venice. The project includes the installation of a multilayer blown extrusion and MDO line, combined with an eight-colors flexo press. Both pieces of equipments will be supplied by Windmoeller & Hoelscher and will enable Poligof to increase its capacity for printed breathable films by 300 million square meters per year.
“(The investment) is based on a simple concept—to offer the market more capacity in order to better manage demand ups and downs, following the growing request of high performing, cost efficient breathable backsheet film,” says CEO Luca Parolari. “This technology was developed together with Windmoeller & Hoelscher, the most advanced machinery supplier for this kind of products, both in terms of film production and printing technology.”
Moreover, the investment will allow Poligof to match the growing demand for high-yield, low-gsm breathable films, and contribute to reduce the overall use of plastics in disposable hygiene products. Currently, Poligof forecasts a 50% plastic reduction compared to standard films in 2022, which will naturally and significantly reduce the carbon footprint of Poligof’s backsheet offerings. The company will partially achieve this through the introduction of PoliGreen and PoliBlue films made from renewable sources, PoliBIO, a biodegradable and compostable material, and PoliECO, containing a minimum of 50% recycled-safe polymers content.
“Today the world is changing and—at least in more developed countries—sustainability is superseding other issues, and has become the absolute priority in any marketing strategy,” says Parolari. “The hygiene industry has understood that—in addition to protection which has become very clear to everybody especially in the last 18 months—it must promote and implement sustainability, offering a less impactful production process and overall creating products which can be part of a circular economy. Our task—as an industry—is to show that a single-use product does not only offer an outstanding protection but can also be environmentally neutral.”
Also in expansion mode is Exten, the innovative Swiss film and laminates producer for the hygiene, medical and technical market, which announced the installation of a new lamination line earlier this year.
After one year dedicated to help in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic with its laminates for gowns, overalls and elastic components for masks, Exten continues its development plant with this new investment. This new facility is contributing to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Exten foundation.
The new technologies adopted on the line will provide the market with the usual hot melt laminates as well as more sustainable new glue-less laminates thanks to its mono-material composition.
The new line versatility will allow it to provide the market with Exten’s actual range of product portfolio as well as to expand it with innovative novelties. The recently developed glueless stretch elastic ear, for example, presents improved technical characteristics and softness, resulting in a perfect fit and comfort for babies.
Exten, as done in the past, with this new line will help customers to develop customized solutions that will enable them to find the best option for their specific needs.
For hook specialist Binder, landing zones have become finer and thinner as the market moved from velour and lock loop systems to nonwovens and hook systems, which grips directly into the back, even without landing zones. This has improved the environmental footprint of the hygiene product.
“Through Binder’s constant innovation in coordination with side-tape producers, diaper producers and nonwoven producers we made our film fastener thinner, lighter and more economical in terms of material and optimized the performance,” says Emile Siemes, Business Development Manager Personal Care. “As less material was needed, a lower energy demand was required and less waste was produced. The landing zones became thinner and lighter and thus more sustainable. Nevertheless, our film fastener still needs to perform at the same high level as in the past. This has been quite a challenge.“
In October, Binder introduced a biodegradable film fastener. “After optimizing our hook geometry to the highest level, it was only logical to design – as the next step of sustainability – the material itself biodegradable,” Siemes says. “It is not completely clear yet, whether the road towards sustainable products will be guided by local legislations or if brand owners will bring their own view of biodegradability to the market. Binder will definitely expand its offering of biodegradable products even more in the future, keeping close contact with customers and other partners in the supply chain.”
Glued to Hygiene
For adhesives supplier Bostik, 2021 has been a particularly busy year. Recognizing that the market is changing, Bostik has not only introduced new products, but also new tools and initiatives to help its customers in operational efficiencies, and profitability and to improve their ability to manufacture more sustainable products and improve their customer’s confidence in the use of their products.
In March, Bostik introduced StayX , a new pad attachment adhesive for feminine or light incontinence pads, and Staybility, a new test method to enable the producer to better test the stay in place performance of their pads. These developments were driven by a recognized need to improve the consumer experience with their hygiene pads.
“We have already said that the adhesive is a very small part of the adhesive product; we believe it to be something like 3% of the product by weight. The demand of this 3% in terms of its processability, its performance, and of course the demands of the end user of the hygiene product are only ever going to increase,” says Andrews. “For a material that makes up just 3% of the product, the expectations are considerable, yet are often overlooked in the initial design of product.”
One way to substantially decrease the thickness of a product is with the implementation of different core designs, not only changing the fluff : SAP ratios, but utilizing an entirely different core design such as one with channels. Bostik has developed a comprehensive product line for cores, designed to bring the level of required core performance depending on the customer’s design.
“The adhesive is really the enabler; it needs to satisfy the operational objectives of the article producer, be easy and clean to use, cost efficient and bond to whatever substrates they choose to incorporate in their product,” Andrew says. “The increasing variety of substrates available to and used by our customers means we need to ensure process flexibility, and the desired level of performance is achievable at lower add-on levels or lower application temperatures. With the inclusion of more sustainable, or natural substrates in product designs, this need for this flexibility is increased.”
Bostik has recently launched Nuplaviva 50 and Nuplaviva 75 to enable the article producer to further increase the renewable content of their article and maintain the bond performance, processability and flexibility enjoyed with other Bostik construction adhesives.
At Henkel, recent adhesives developments have been compatible with sustainable substrates, allow the customer to reduce energy consumption and enable bonding with lesser amounts of adhesives and new packaging materials.
“As a global market leader in adhesives for personal hygiene products, we strongly believe in innovations that help to improve processes for our customers and the life of our consumers,” says Eilyn Meneses Villabona, Market Strategy Manager Personal Hygiene Adhesives EIMEA. “Key trends we are targeting are safety and purity, sustainability, operational efficiency, and consumer experiences such as softness and comfort. “
Henkel’s Technomelt Advance is the most novel generation of adhesive, ensuring excellent resource efficiency (mileage) and outstanding purity while Easyflow is a new-to-the-world adhesive form that is auto-feedable and air conveyable to eliminate manual handling, bringing a lot of benefits in occupational safety and line efficiency.
“Adhesives need to be compatible with the new materials coming to the market,” Villabona says. “We see a lot of bio polymers and natural substrates coming into product design. Our portfolio of adhesives has the right properties, and the flexibility to enable the manufacturing of new designs with bio-based substrates, while allowing for continuous upgrades and developments of materials.”
For adhesive supplier H.B. Fuller, the focus on sustainability led to the creation of high-performance boding solutions for more demanding natural substrates and adhesives with an increased biobased content. These next generation technologies and solutions can reduce the overall ecological footprint and support manufacturers’ overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and regulatory goals.
Being eco-conscious is more and more a reality and a major global trend. In fact, what began as a differentiator driven mainly by startups has now become a global effort by brand owners in the hygiene industry. The world is also operating under a new degree of regulatory pressure with focus on the circular economy which has been intensified by the use of mobile applications that allow consumers to easily check ingredients like never before. Other global, well-known initiatives, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS), have made it imperative for manufacturers to focus on environmental and safety concerns throughout the entire product lifecycle.
H.B. Fuller also offers expertise and global capabilities to help hygiene manufacturers address the rising demand for ingredient transparency and safety driven by consumer groups and non-governmental organizations. The ultimate goal is to help manufacturers deliver safe articles that are not only compliant, but are at even lower limits versus industry Substance of Interest (SOI) targets.
To support future growth, H.B. Fuller is building a new facility in Cairo to better serve Egypt, Turkey, the Middle East and Africa. The new factory will become a regional supply hub and a center of excellence for manufacturing for adhesives serving the hygiene, packaging, labeling, paper converting and graphic arts, among other industries.
The world-class production facility will fulfil industry-leading sustainability standards. With a gross area of 37,000 m2 in a two-story building, the planned site will be built at the well-equipped CPC Industrial Park, in the 6th of October industrial city in Cairo, which is considered a strategic location for manufacturing, and will commence full production in the last quarter of 2022.
H.B. Fuller has had a presence in Egypt since 2008 and this new strategic investment will allow them to grow and create new jobs opportunities in the region and offer improved quality, capacity to serve increased regional needs, excellent access to transportation and logistics advantages, and technical support to ensure a superior service that can help customers gain business value through their adhesive applications.
Recently, H.B. Fuller also has strengthened its adhesive business in Africa, with a robust commercial expansion in South Africa serving many market segments.
