EDANA, the international association supporting the nonwovens and related industries closed the 2014 FIltrex conference on nonwoven filter media this week with thanks and celebration for the 10th anniversary of the conference.  With more than 160 delegates at the conference, this sixth edition gave focus to automotive applications, innovation in filter media, indoor air quality, and measuring and testing methods.
 
Speaking at the opening of the event, Pierre Wiertz, general manager of EDANA says, “Once again, the whole supply chain is meeting for a unique conference focused solely on nonwoven filter media. With this our sixth edition of Filtrex Europe since 20014, and three editions already held across Asia and the Indian Subcontinent,  this conference and exhibition continues to be the ‘place to be’ to hear about the Future of Filtration.”
 
Wiertz continued “The challenges raised by the relative uncertainty of the global economy and geo-political situation in this second half of 2014 should not let us forget that Filtrex was born just 10 years ago, and has been organised every second year since then in Europe, without being too heavily affected by the fluctuating and challenging economic and business environment since then.”
 
Filter media, all applications included, are the fastest growing end-use of nonwovens globally and in each continent (over 9% average annual growth both before and after the 2008 financial crisis). According to EDANA estimates, with input from global partner associations INDA and ANFA, worldwide sales of filter media represented more than 400,000 tons of nonwovens in 2011, and this is forecast to grow to 700,000 in 2016, with Asia more than doubling and representing almost half of the global estimated figure of 700,000 tonnes in 2016.  This would mean that filter media will represent around 8% of total sales of the global nonwovens output in 2016, estimated at 8.5 million tonnes.
 
Speaking at the evening cocktail, Robert Glaze, president of the Brenva Institute offered a discussion on “What happened to the future? A primer for the uncertain executive,” which addressed the uncertainty and complexity that has accompanied the rapid evolution of technologies.
 
With a renewed format in 2014 to meet the changing needs of the global nonwoven filter media industry, delegates had the opportunity to hear leading spokespersons for the industry discuss the impact of regulations for fuels on the automotive filtration supply chain and the main opportunities and challenges of air filtration media, and on the best measurements of indoor air quality.
 
As part of EDANA’s ongoing support to the nonwoven filter media industry, the association announced it would hold a two-day training course on the Fundamentals of Filtration, which will take place on November 26-27, 2014 in Brussels. Both member and non-member companies are invited to register any newcomer to the industry.