NRF Statement On Biden Administration’s China Trade Policy

WASHINGTON — October 4, 2021 — The National Retail Federation today issued the following statement from Senior Vice President of Government Relations David French in response to United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai’s announcement on the Biden administration’s China trade policy.

“American businesses across the country continue to be severely impacted by the tariffs put into place by the previous administration. Today’s long-awaited announcement proved the Biden administration’s trade strategy on China to be lackluster at most, and will further inflict unnecessary damage to the American economy and retail supply chains.

“The continuation of these harmful tariffs worsens the challenges thousands of retailers must navigate, especially at a time when many are only beginning to emerge from the serious economic damage they have suffered as a result of the global pandemic. Because these tariffs touch products in nearly every sector of the U.S. economy, they also ultimately force consumers to pay higher prices.

“It is critical the administration initiate immediate discussions with China so we can level the international playing field and bring an end to the global supply chain disruption.”

Posted October 5, 2021

Source: The National Retail Federation (NRF)

Hexion Joins The United Nations Global Compact

COLUMBUS, Ohio — October 4, 2021 — Hexion Inc. — a producer of adhesives, coatings and composite resins — today announced that it has joined the United Nations (UN) Global Compact, the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative.

The UN Global Compact challenges companies to conduct business responsibly by aligning their operations and strategies with the UN’s Ten Principles which pertain to human rights, labor, environmental practices and anti-corruption. It also commits companies to take actions to advance broader social benefits, in accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

With more than 14,000 companies in over 160 countries participating, the UN Global Compact holds members to the highest sustainability standards.

“We are proud to join forces with the United Nations Global Compact in an effort to further accelerate our sustainability efforts,” said Craig Rogerson, chairman, president and CEO. “Many of Hexion’s sustainability goals have been developed to strategically align with the UN SDGs. With this membership, we plan to continue implementing practices that align with these objectives for the betterment of our communities and the environment.”

Participation in the UN Global Compact requires signatories to report yearly on their commitment to the universal sustainability principles and development goals. Hexion’s annual Sustainability Report will outline the company’s ongoing efforts and progress. To learn more about the UN Global Compact, visit https://www.unglobalcompact.org.

Posted October 4, 2021

Source: Hexion Inc.

Orion Engineered Carbons To Implement A Carbon Dioxide Surcharge For All Carbon Black Products Manufactured In Europe

HOUSTON — October 4, 2021 — Orion Engineered Carbons, a global supplier of specialty and high-performance carbon black, announced today that effective January 1, 2022, the company is implementing a carbon dioxide (CO2) surcharge on all carbon blacks produced in Europe, to the extent contracts allow.

The official EU Emission Trading System (ETS) aims to support the EU climate neutrality target by 2050 and the intermediate target of at least 55 percent net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990. The EU ETS has entered its fourth trading phase (2021-2030) resulting in additional costs based on direct CO2 emissions for the carbon black industry.

In consequence, the company will introduce a respective surcharge to its customers in order to continue being a reliable, long-term global supplier of high-quality products and services while manufacturing its carbon black products safely and sustainably.

Posted October 4, 2021

Source: Orion Engineered Carbons

The Lee® Brand Announces New Fall Campaign: LeeOriginals

GREENSBORO, N.C. — October 4, 2021 — Lee®, the iconic American denim and apparel brand, today announced a new advertising campaign — LeeOriginals (#leeoriginals). Produced in collaboration with preeminent photographer and creative director, Mark Seliger, this campaign celebrates the brand’s long-standing, trailblazing spirit.

Lee has been part of iconic cultural moments and played a role in this country’s style narrative for generations. Inspired by the brand’s ongoing support of those who create their own path, the campaign was built in collaboration with game changers and originals. From the creative direction by Seliger to looks curated by costume designer and stylist Arianne Phillips to the title track of ‘Strut’ by Lenny Kravitz, #leeoriginals celebrates and encourages those who push boundaries through creativity, ingenuity and hard work.

“This campaign embraces optimism, authenticity and tenacity – characteristics that are inherent to the Lee brand and shared with our consumers,” said Brigid Stevens, senior director of marketing, Lee North America. “Originality has always driven innovation and fueled creativity, and we are thrilled to collaborate with Mark and Arianne. Their abilities to capture and celebrate the unique character and personality of each cast member reflects what has always made Lee original…the stories behind those who wear them.”

A cast of originals is featured including:

  • Quannah Chasinghorse;
  • Levi Dylan;
  • Annahstasia Enuke;
  • Kenya Kinski-Jones;
  • Haden McKenna;
  • And more….

“Working together with Lee was a perfect combination of modern and legacy,” said Mark Seliger, photographer and creative director. “We picked our cast because of who they are and their reflection of personality and style. The idea was to find a common thread in composition and let these amazing people take it from there.”

The digital-first campaign was placed by Lee’s media agency, Tinuiti, and will launch on streaming, YouTube and digital channels on October 4 as well as across Lee’s social media channels and e-commerce website. A curated out-of-home (OOH) experience in collaboration with creative agency Noble People will target specific creative neighborhoods — SoHo, Williamsburg and Bushwick — across New York City.

Posted October 4, 2021
Source: Lee®, a Kontoor Brands brand

COTTON USA Announces United Nations Designates October 7 “World Cotton Day” On Its Permanent Calendar

NEW YORK CITY — October 4, 2021 — The United Nations has announced that it will approve designating October 7 of each year as World Cotton Day on its permanent calendar. First launched in 2019 at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) headquarters in Geneva, World Cotton Day continues to grow each year.

On World Cotton Day, stakeholders from the global cotton community come together to speak on the many benefits of cotton including the facts that:

  • Cotton is grown in over 70 countries and provides an income to hundreds of millions of people every year.
  • A single ton of cotton provides year-round employment for an estimated 5 or 6 people (often in some of the most impoverished places on earth.)
  • Cotton is the only agricultural crop to provide both food and fiber.
  • Cotton has a negative carbon footprint and degrades 95 percent more than polyester in wastewater helping to keep our land and water clean.

The event theme for 2021 is ‘Cotton for Good’ to celebrate the fiber’s enduring positive impact. A virtual celebration will feature notable speakers such as Bert Jacobs, CEO and Co-Founder of Life is Good, and Maxine Bédat, Director of New Standard Institute. Other global industry experts include Cotton Council International, Viterra India, International Cotton Advisory Committee, Better Cotton Initiative, and African Cotton Foundation. Keynote topics include responsible fashion, sustainability, and the importance of cotton in countries around the world.

With the cotton industry’s focus on sustainability, attendees will learn about the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol®, which aligns with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals to bring quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement to sustainable cotton production.

To learn more about the activities planned for World Cotton Day, please visit www.worldcottonday.com. Follow #WorldCottonDay on social media and join the global conversation.

Posted October 4, 2021

Source: COTTON USA

X-Rite, Pantone Announce Online Color Theory And Quality Control Trainings

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — October 4, 2021 — X-Rite Inc., a global supplier of color science and technology, and its subsidiary Pantone LLC, announce that its popular Fundamentals Seminar Series focusing on color science and quality control is now available in an online learning format. The remote format consists of two courses and features self-paced modules, downloadable course guides, educational videos, product demonstrations, and interactive activities. Attendees will learn about color theory and how to measure, control, and communicate color to improve production workflows, reduce waste, and meet sustainability goals. In addition to the virtual format, the seminar will also be held in-person this fall throughout the United States.

“Last year we announced our first virtual Fundamentals Seminar Series course, the Fundamentals of Color and Appearance. We are excited to announce that the second course, Fundamentals of Instrumentation and Quality Control (FIQC), is now online, too,” said Raj Shah, vice president of marketing, X-Rite and Pantone. “Together these courses provide a mix of color theory and practical information to help attendees implement color measurement and quality standards across their workflows and supply chains.”

The Online Fundamentals Seminar is a two-course series with more than 10 hours of video instruction taught by X-Rite Color Experts. To enhance the remote training experience, attendees have access to a discussion board and a live Q&A with an X-Rite Color Expert. The seminar is ideal for anyone who works with or specifies color, including quality control professionals, lab technicians, part suppliers, product developers, designers, and manufacturers.

The Fundamentals Seminar Series courses include:

  • Fundamentals of Color and Appearance (FOCA), which focuses on color and appearance science. From the physics of color to lighting, spectrophotometers and color data, this course will teach how to measure, view and understand color communication and data.
  • Fundamentals of Instrumentation and Quality Control (FIQC), a hands-on, color quality control workshop using X-Rite instruments and software. Topics include creating color standards, developing appropriate color tolerances, and measuring samples against target colors while analyzing the results.

To register for one or both online seminars, visit https://www.xrite.com/fundamentals-of-instrumentation-and-quality-control-online and https://www.xrite.com/fundamentals-of-color-and-appearance-online

In-Person Seminar

“In addition to our online offering, we have brought back our in-person trainings and will conduct the two-day Fundamentals Seminar in a number of locations across the United States. By delivering color education for every learning style, we are able to help attendees improve their color knowledge and ensure their color workflow is the best it can be,” continued Shah.

The seminar series will be held in Valley Forge, Pa.; Columbus, Ohio; Rosemont, Ill.; Green Bay, Wis.; and San Jose, Calif.

To see dates and register for the two-day in-person seminar visit: https://www.xrite.com/categories/training/the-fundamentals-training-series–foca–fiqc-combined

Posted October 4, 2021

Source: X-Rite Inc.

NCTO Issues Statement In Support Of Biden Administration’s New China Trade Policy Framework

WASHINGTON — October 4, 2021 — The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas issued a statement today following U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai’s speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, outlining the Biden administration’s China trade policy.

National Council of Textile Organizations President and CEO Kim Glas issued the following statement:

“We support the Biden administration’s plan outlined today by U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Katherine Tai, to enforce the Phase One deal with China and maintain tariffs on finished textile and apparel products. We believe it’s important to hold China accountable for pervasive intellectual property theft and persistent predatory trade practices that have undermined U.S. manufacturers and its workforce.

China’s rampant abuse of intellectual property rights and other illegal trade activity has gone on for far too long at the direct expense of U.S. manufacturers and the loss of millions of U.S. manufacturing jobs. The U.S. textile industry supports the president’s authority to use Section 301 to address China’s unfettered practice of intellectual property theft, which has had a damaging impact on the entire U.S. textile and apparel production chain and other manufacturing industries for decades.

NCTO has strongly supported applying tariffs on finished products in our sector as a key negotiating leverage with the Chinese. NCTO also supports a targeted and limited exclusion process for a small list of inputs such as dyes, chemicals and textile machinery that are not available domestically and that enable U.S. manufacturers to compete in the global marketplace.

We also appreciate the administration’s support for strengthening Buy American policies and investing in the U.S. manufacturing base. We urge the administration to impose duties on finished medical protective equipment (PPE) to support domestic textile companies that have produced over a billion PPE items since the COVID pandemic began. While tariffs aren’t the only mechanism in the toolbox, it’s necessary to ensure a holistic approach to onshoring and nearshoring these critical supply chains, a key priority for the Biden administration and our domestic manufacturers who ramped up production overnight to help in the current crisis.

Finally, we strongly support the administration’s intention to address broader, systemic issues in our trading relationship with China — specifically, the need to remedy unfair advantages that stem from rampant state ownership of manufacturing and the pervasive use of production and export subsidies that displace U.S. textile manufacturers in markets both at home and abroad.

We appreciate the Ambassador’s thoughtful approach on addressing these complicated matters in a way that ensures that workers and manufacturing sectors are the center of the trade approach with China.

We appreciate Ambassador Tai and the Biden administration recognizing the critical need for a strong resilient manufacturing sector and look forward to working closely with the administration to implement a strategic vision that helps strengthen our middle class.

Posted October 4, 2021

Source: The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO)

Welspun India, Dupont Biomaterials Collaborate To Launch New Sustainable Functional Home Textile Collection

WILMINGTON, Del. — October 4, 2021 — DuPont today announced that Welspun India — part of $3 billion Welspun Group — and DuPont Biomaterials launched a new home textile collection, including bath towels and bedsheets made using bio-based materials. The collection was developed to meet a growing demand for home textile products that not only bring desired performance but also are sustainable. The collaboration brings together cotton and DuPont™ Sorona® fibers to create home textile fabrics that provide exceptional comfort, moisture management, a luxurious drape, and a smooth, soft, hand feel. The new global collection expands the future of sustainable textiles in the important area of home care, where innovation is of utmost importance. Partially plant-based Sorona polymer delivers the performance needed and yet is sustainable in nature.

Innovation has been the cornerstone of Welspun India’s continued growth and success across the globe. Housing more than 32 innovations resulting in numerous patent applications across the globe, the company has always focused on the needs of consumers and catered to them with innovations like Nanocore® technology, which prevents dust mites and other allergens from entering home linens. Additionally, the company introduced an industry-defining, multi-level traceability patented process Wel-Trak™ that tracks finished products back to the raw material as well as HygroCotton® technology which traps the air in its core thereby making terry towels bloom after every wash and regulates a bedsheet’s temperature naturally. It recently launched an organization-wide program, Manthan, to nurture and promote an inclusive innovation led culture.

With a rich history of textile innovation, DuPont has invented groundbreaking fibers such as nylon, Lycra®, and rayon. Its Sorona brand — made from 37-percent renewable plant-based ingredients — offers a high-performing, responsibly sourced material option. Fibers made with Sorona polymer are currently used in various apparel applications, including athleisure and athletic wear, insulation, swimwear, outerwear, suiting, faux fur, and more. Sorona polymer offers technical and performance benefits, including incredible softness, stretch and recovery, and inherent stain resistance without the need for topical treatments. Sorona is a USDA Certified Biobased Product and is certified as a OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 product.

“Welspun India challenged us to deliver a fiber innovation that will enable them to offer a perceptible value addition to their end customers and yet provide a sustainable solution. We were able to deliver to the Welspun team the Sorona® fiber in a format that allows its incorporation into a range of applications, including towels and bedsheets” said Dr. Gowri Nagarajan, regional sales and marketing manager, DuPont Biomaterials.

“Recently, we have seen an increasing demand for textile fabrics that demonstrate well-rounded performance in the most sustainable way possible at both the fiber and fabric level. We have been working with our suppliers to achieve this performance, and, in the realm of comfort, stretch, and moisture management, DuPont has a long history of innovation. It is remarkable to see our teams develop this performance stretch Sorona Agile fabric without the need for spandex. It is able to withstand industrial wash conditions without any compromise in fabric property for the life of the fabric. Our teams are currently closely engaged to incorporate other Sorona yarns into home textile applications,” said Umasankar Mahapatra, senior vice president, Innovation, Welspun India.

“Welspun India’s deep focus on innovation aligns well with our offerings and we are proud to create this new range made with Sorona. While Sorona fibers have been used in the fashion apparel segment for some time, by staying close to our customers, we realized that there is potential to utilize the functional benefits of Sorona fibers in the home textile segment. As a first step, our Innovation team developed towels and bed sheets incorporating an array of key functionalities and we hope to develop new products and other functionalities in the future.  Our collaboration with the DuPont Biomaterials team is a significant step towards our commitment to bringing value-added products to address tomorrow’s challenges through a sustainable approach without compromising on performance and value,” added Dipali Goenka, CEO and joint managing director, Welspun India.

“We are thrilled to work with customers like Welspun India. By combining the innovation and performance attributes offered by our Sorona fiber with their experience in this market, we are delivering on our commitment to create more sustainable products,” said Dr. Michael Saltzberg, global business director – DuPont Biomaterials.

Posted October 4, 2021

Source: DuPont

SinaLite Expands Its Capacity For On-Demand, Direct-To-Garment Production With Kornit Digital

ENGLEWOOD, N.J. — October 4, 2021 — Kornit Digital Ltd. announced today that SinaLite, a wholesale printer serving printing and design businesses in Canada and the United States, has installed a Kornit Avalanche HD6 system to increase its digital direct-to-garment production capacity. Since the onset of COVID-19 restrictions and global supply chain challenges, SinaLite has experienced a massive uptick in t-shirt orders, with the company estimating a 330-percent increase in e-commerce volumes. Previously using a Kornit Storm HD6, the additional system will help the supplier accommodate the considerable increase in demand for its apparel.

Operating strictly under a business-to-business sales model, SinaLite offers more than 1,000 diverse print products to its print distributors, empowering them to remain competitive and grow their businesses. Throughi its website, partners can generate instant quotes 24/7, upload imagery, leverage a design builder interface to generate product mockups, and place orders with ease. Orders are produced and delivered in the United States and Canada within only a few days.

“We originally brought in the Kornit Storm HD6 as we were drawn to the company’s efficiency, sustainability, and high-quality output, while their single-step process gives us the ability to fulfill client orders quickly. We anticipated processing plenty of orders, but recent volumes have surprised us,” said Brian Meshkati, vice president at SinaLite. “Our order volumes reached a level that required us to increase our production capacity to keep up with demand. Since the Kornit system was working efficiently for us, we decided to go with the Avalanche, enabling us to continue to deliver our customers a wide range of affordable, full-color printing without order minimums.”

Adoption of the Kornit systems allows suppliers, like SinaLite, to implement industry-leading equipment and complete their print product portfolio. The business offers workshops, guides, and videos to support its partners’ custom apparel sales, and help them adapt and thrive in the recovering economy.

“We believe on-demand production is the future of the apparel industry; whether your business was built on custom apparel or commercial printing, sustainable production and unlimited design capabilities are a natural fit for the e-commerce age, which continues to test suppliers’ agility,” said Chuck Meyo, president of Kornit Digital Americas. “SinaLite was prepared for market disruptions, had the technology it needed to adapt and thrive when demand shifted suddenly, and used their own experience as a test case for expanding their end-to-end digital capabilities. The result has been a continuously rewarding experience for their partners, and a powerful return on investment.”

Posted October 4, 2021

Source: Kornit Digital Ltd.

Virtual RISE Conference Highlights Next-Gen Technologies For Nonwovens/Engineered Materials

CARY, N.C. — October 4, 2021 — Some 145 professionals in product development, material science, and new technologies convened for the 11th conference edition of RISE®-Research, Innovation & Science for Engineered Fabrics, held virtually, September 28-30. The event was co-organized by INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, The Nonwovens Institute, and North Carolina State University.

The program focused on Nonwoven Material Science Developments, Sustainability, Increasing Circularity, Promising Innovations, Process Innovations, Material Innovations, Government/NGO Challenges to Single-Use Plastics, Machine-Assisted-Learning Development of Biopolymers, and Market Intelligence and Economic Insights. 

Participants praised the high-quality program content, in-depth round table discussions, networking and Q&A’s where participants ask expert speakers questions pertaining to their focused presentations.

“RISE provides our industry with the latest in nonwoven technologies, sustainability, and market intelligence. Numerous times I reached out to colleagues to discuss what I was hearing that started the creative juices flowing!”  said Dr. Bryan D. Haynes, senior technical director, Kimberly-Clark Corp.

“I think more than any other year, RISE 2021 has given me insights into the next generation of fibers,” noted Heidi Beatty, consultant, Crown Abbey. “My mind is full of ideas of how we can use these new innovations in nonwoven products for our clients, that are going to improve both consumers’ quality of life as well as be more thoughtful to the environment. RISE has become one of our most important conferences in the nonwoven calendar.”

“It’s important for the nonwovens industry, to have easy and regular communication with customers, suppliers and peers,” said Nick Lane, account manager, Devan North America LLC. “RISE provided a wealth of technical insight and a chance to have an open dialog to help innovate and create opportunities.”

“I’ve enjoyed virtual RISE this year and especially getting the wide range of current insights and discussion on the important topic of sustainability – from biopolymers to regulation to machine learning.  We all as an industry need to work together to find the solutions that are needed, and this was a great way to get some cross-pollination of practical ideas,” added Diane Toonen, Global Strategic marketing director, Global Nonwovens Business Unit, Bostik.

“The quality of content for the virtual RISE conference, as usual, was very informative and interesting. The virtual presentations and follow-up Q&A sessions via Zoom was an effective alternative,”  said Jon Woods, general manager, Fibers, Textiles and Nonwovens, Eastman Chemical Co.

“So many pertinent and relevant topics were covered over the three-day format giving RISE leading status as the “go-to” technology conference focusing on nonwoven and engineered fabrics,”  mentioned Jeffrey Bassett, managing director, Fi-Tech Inc.

Highlights among the 26 presentations included Sustainable Solutions for our Plastic Planet Predicament, by Marc A. Hillmyer, Ph.D., McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair, University of Minnesota; Closed-Loop Recycling Pilot of Single-Use Face Masks by Peter Dziezok, Ph.D., Director of Open Innovation, Proctor & Gamble; Innovating a Sustainable Future for Nonwovens: A European Perspective, by Matt Tipper, Ph.D., CEO, Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute (NIRI); Phantom Platform: The Polyolefin-cellulose Coformed Substrates Technology, by Fabio Zampollo, CEO and Founder of Teknoweb Materials;  Guiding Environmentally Sustainable Innovations – From Reactive to Proactive Life Cycle Management, by Valentina Prado, Ph.D., Senior Sustainability Analyst, EarthShift Global LLC;   High-Loft, Ultra-Soft Hygiene Solutions, Paul E. Rollin, Ph.D., Senior Principal Scientist – Global Hygiene, Propylene-Vistamaxx-Adhesion (PVA) Global Technology, ExxonMobil Chemical Company; and Canadian Plastic Policy Update, by Karyn M. Schmidt, Senior Director, Regulatory & Technical Affairs, American Chemistry Council (ACC).

Other highlights included the announcement of Canopy Respirator as the winner of this year’s RISE® Innovation Award winner. The annual award recognizes innovation in areas within and on the periphery of the nonwovens industry which use advanced science and engineering principles to develop unique or intricate solutions to problems and advance the usage of nonwovens.

RISE® Innovation Award Winner

The RISE Innovation Award was presented to Canopy for its Canopy Respirator. The product is an innovative respirator that is fully mechanical, non-electrostatic, with a filter designed for superior breathability while offering the wearer facial transparency. The breakthrough respirator features 5.5 millimeter water column resistance at 85 liters (3 cubic feet) per minute, 2-way filtration, and a pleated filter that contains over 500-square-centimeters of surface area. The patented Canopy respirator resists fluids, and eliminates fogging of eyeglasses.

 “We are honored and humbled! Thanks to INDA for advocating domestic PPE production, and to the INDA member companies who have played a key role as partners to make Canopy a reality,” said Joe Rosenberg, founder and CEO of Canopy.

Other nominees for the Award included John Mansville for its Evalith® 1000 Series, an innovative Alpha Binder that is a formaldehyde-free, high bio-carbon content, toxic-free binder formulation; and TiGuard LLC for its Fiber Coated, Heat Sealable, Breathable, Hybrid Membrane, Protective Fabric.

For information on the 12th edition of the Research, Innovation & Science for Engineered Fabrics (RISE®) conference in 2021, visit inda.org

Posted October 4, 2021

Source: INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry

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