Fifteen years ago, I wrote my first-ever Nonwovens Industry editorial under this very same headline—What Is A Nonwoven? At the time, I really did not know. To say that learning curve in this industry was steep is an understatement. I still find myself baffled over the complexities of this dynamic market.

It seems I am not alone. At the IDEA exhibition last month in Boston, MA, EDANA general manager Pierre Wiertz discussed efforts to establish a new definition and classification system for nonwovens. Because current designations are confusing, the three major trade associations, EDANA in Europe, INDA in North America and ANFA in Asia, are looking to reverse the current definition for nonwovens, which define the materials as what they are not (woven) rather than what they are. Meanwhile, an outdated classification system, which groups nonwovens under the textiles umbrella, restricting freedom in raw material usage, is also being examined.

The three associations first met in Shanghai last spring during ANEX and again in Boston last month to discuss this issue and already a new definition for nonwovens has been announced. The new definition—“an engineered fibrous assembly which has been given a designed level of structural integrity by physical and/or chemical means with the exclusion of paper, woven or knitted materials”—will serve as a technical reference and a guideline for use in trade and customs purposes.

The conundrum of defining nonwovens by what they are not rather than what they are has faced this industry for years. Already many companies have started moving away from using the term. Probably the biggest example of this is Freudenberg. Last year, this company, which is one of the world’s largest nonwovens producers, changed its nonwovens business’s name to Performance Materials. We have also seen phrases like engineered fabrics or technical fabrics replace nonwovens.

Of course it is difficult to group together a few words or characteristics to define nonwovens, a market with so many varying end use markets. Some people associate nonwovens with apparel interlinings, others think only of disposable goods and most really seem to sandwich the material somewhere between a textile and a piece of paper.

In fact, one of the key goals of this project is to give nonwovens it own dedicated heading in the harmonized tariff headings. This process will not be short. According to Wiertz, there is a five-year window to take the new definition to the World Customs Organization (WCO) and align it with International Standardization Organization (ISO) and Harmonization Standards, so it will be 2022 before we see anything official.




Karen McIntyre
Editor
[email protected]