This article was originally published in the Nonwovens News Magazine, Issue August/September, 2026. Republished with permission. All rights reserved.
Since its launch in Monaco in 2001, EDANA’s OUTLOOK™ conference has become a global forum for the absorbent hygiene, personal care and wipes value chain. Over 25 years, it has evolved with the sector, reflecting shifts in markets, technologies, regulation and consumer expectations while building an international community. From 22 to 24 September 2026, OUTLOOK™ returns to Cascais, Portugal, bringing together producers, converters, brands, retailers and suppliers, including machinery producers. Nonwovens News spoke with EDANA General Manager and Global Nonwovens Alliance CEO Murat Dogru about how OUTLOOK™ has evolved and what delegates can expect.
Nonwovens News: What does the 25th edition represent for you?
Murat Dogru: For me, the anniversary is a chance to pause and ask where our industry is heading, not only to celebrate how far we have come. OUTLOOK™ has mirrored that journey: what began as a conference centered on baby diapers and menstrual products now also covers adult incontinence and, increasingly, wipes. Today, we also place much stronger emphasis on product safety and regulation, because those issues now shape strategy and innovation across the value chain.
We have also diversified the format. The table-top exhibition gives suppliers and innovators a direct line to potential customers, and that has grown steadily over recent editions. The constant is the purpose: to create a space where companies can challenge each other constructively and tackle questions – from sustainability to safety and compliance – that no single player can resolve on their own.
NWN: How would you characterise the current situation for hygiene and wipes?
MD: I would describe it as a period of intense but necessary adjustment. In Europe especially, new frameworks on packaging, single-use products, product safety and end-of-life are forcing companies to rethink long-standing assumptions about materials, design and environmental performance.
At the same time, most of our participants operate across borders. Whether they are based in Europe or elsewhere, they are grappling with similar questions: how to keep products safe, reliable and affordable – particularly for babies, older people and patients – while visibly improving sustainability and meeting more complex legislative requirements. OUTLOOK™26 is set up to address that tension head-on, with input from both EU and non-EU markets.
NWN: Where are you seeing the most concrete progress?
MD: The encouraging point is that we are seeing real movement, not just commitments on slides. There is investment in more resource-efficient production, in bio-based and recycled content, and in designs that integrate circularity from the start rather than bolt it on at the end.
Wipes are a good illustration. The debates around flushability, litter, labelling and fibre choices have not been easy, but they have pushed the market towards clearer standards, guidance and claims, and they have accelerated innovation in substrates and dispersible solutions. In Cascais, delegates will see concrete examples of how companies are turning those discussions into products, processes and business models.
NWN: What has allowed OUTLOOK™ to stay relevant over 25 years?
MD: I believe it comes down to two things: the quality of the content and the quality of the audience.
OUTLOOK has never aimed to be the biggest or the loudest event on the calendar; it has aimed to be the most valuable. Delegates come for market intelligence, regulatory analysis, consumer insights and technical expertise that help them make better strategic decisions and anticipate where our industry is heading.
Equally important is who they meet. Over twenty-five years, OUTLOOK has established itself as the place where senior decision-makers from across the absorbent hygiene, personal care and wipes value chain come together. From raw material suppliers and machinery manufacturers to converters, brand owners and retailers, it brings together the people who shape the future of our industry.
That combination is what makes OUTLOOK unique. High-quality content attracts high-level participants, and high-level participants raise the quality of the discussions. The fact that so many companies return year after year tells us that this formula continues to deliver real value.
NWN: What will be the main themes at OUTLOOK™26?
MD: We have built the programme around the forces that are actively reshaping our sector: demographic change and the growth of adult incontinence; evolving consumer expectations; tightening sustainability and product-safety requirements; and shifts in raw materials and global supply chains.
We open with a keynote from Henry Curr, Economics Editor at The Economist, looking at how the global economy has absorbed a decade of successive shocks – and what could still disrupt demand or investment in the years ahead. A market-drivers session then
explores polyolefin markets and examines how the strategic moves of large Chinese hygiene producers are changing the competitive landscape globally.
Regulation is woven through the agenda. A dedicated Global Product Safety Compliance session brings legal and regulatory expertise from Europe, North America and Asia to show where approaches to consumer product safety are converging and where they are diverging. For companies managing multi-regional portfolios, that kind of comparative view is now critical.
NWN: Why include retail futurist Theresa Schleicher in the line-up?
MD: We wanted at least one keynote that starts from everyday life rather than from regulation or technology. Theresa Schleicher has worked with major European retailers and brands to think about the future of retail and urban consumption, and she brings that lens to hygiene and wipes.
Her keynote will explore how new retail formats, digitalisation and changing lifestyles influence what people expect from products and services, and how sustainability and safety claims are likely to be scrutinised at the point of sale and online. For anyone involved in product development, marketing or communication, this is a useful reminder that innovation has to make sense not only in the lab or the factory, but on the shelf and in the home.
NWN: In a context of widespread digital communication, why does in-person participation still matter?
MD: Digital tools have become indispensable, and we all rely on them every day. But some conversations simply require people to be in the same room. Trust is built face to face, ideas are challenged more openly, and relationships develop much faster through personal interaction.
That is why in-person events continue to matter. Beyond the conference programme, some of the most valuable moments happen between sessions, over coffee or during dinner. Those informal conversations often lead to new partnerships, fresh ideas and important business decisions. That human dimension is very difficult to replicate online.
NWN: Why return to Cascais for this edition?
Cascais holds a special place in OUTLOOK™’s story. When we met there in 2007, it offered more than a conference setting, it created space for reflection, meaningful exchange, and genuine connection.
For our 25th anniversary, returning to Cascais feels both natural and symbolic. It is a rare location that combines inspiration, focus, and a distinctive atmosphere for delegates from across Europe and beyond.
NWN: Why should our readers attend OUTLOOK™26?
MD: If you work anywhere in the absorbent hygiene, personal care or wipes value chain, this edition brings together three elements that are difficult to find in one place. First, a focused view of the economic, regulatory, technological and consumer forces reshaping your business, presented and debated by people directly responsible for responding to them. Second, an exhibition and networking environment where you can see innovations, meet partners and test your own roadmap with peers from different regions. Third, the perspective that comes from examining these questions collectively at a time when the industry is under strong pressure to deliver both performance and responsibility. You can track trends from a distance, but you cannot fully replace the insight that comes from being in the room when the sector assesses itself. Twenty-five years on, OUTLOOK™26 is that moment – and it is not one you can afford to miss.
Discover more about OUTLOOK™26 here.