INDEX™23 Seminars and Tutorials

INDEX™23 Seminars and Tutorials

Tutorials

Thursday 20 April 15.00 – 16.00: Nonwovens Tutorial

Marines Lagemaat, Scientific & Technical Affairs Director – EDANA

This free one-hour nonwovens tutorial is intended as an induction to nonwovens for those new to the industry, or anyone who will use or work with nonwovens and would like to find out more. If you have already followed this course and would like to improve your knowledge, please visit our Training Courses page to find out more about the extensive training programme that EDANA offers. 


Seminars

The seminars are a series of discussions and presentations, during which speakers tackle current challenges affecting the nonwovens value chain, and propose innovative solutions.

While advance registration is not required, we recommend that you arrive early in order to secure a place, as space is limited.

The programme for the INDEXTM23 seminars is available to download on the right hand side of this page and also listed below.

For any questions please contact
Giovanna Merola
Contact

Tuesday 18 April

13:30 – 15:00: The sustainable future of medical nonwoven

Moderator: Christel Dendas, ESG and Strategy Consultant

Presentation 1: An alternative to incineration of medical nonwoven waste. How to make the circularity of medical nonwovens more efficient? NHS case study - David Scheeres- Founder Thermal Compaction Group

Presentation 2: Challenges facing the nonwoven industry in becoming circular in the healthcare sector - Robert Garcia, Application & Product Development Director | EMEIA Hygiene & Healthcare, Nonwovens - Berry Global

Wednesday 19 April

10:30 – 12:00: Sustainable use of geosynthetics

Presentation 1: Sustainable use of geosynthetics in mega projects in civil and geo-environmental engineering - Daniele Cazzuffi, IGS Past President – CESI

Over the last 60 years the use of geosynthetics has increased in civil, geotechnical, and geo-environmental projects around the world for a variety of functions.

In more recent decades their use instead of, or in partial combination with, natural materials – such as gravel, sand, clay, and so forth – emphasized their crucial role in terms of sustainability, circular economy, and in the light of the dramatic climatic change issues.

Examples of the following applications from exceptional projects will be briefly shared:

  • Dams and reservoirs
  • Tunnels and underground structures
  • Reduction of snow/ice melting in glaciers

Presentation 2: Circular economy: opportunities and limitations presented by recycling nonwoven geotextiles - Francesco Fontana, Geosynthetics Consultant - A&B

 The environmental impact of geosynthetics must be assessed according to their desired performance, rather than simply their weight. Using recycled polymers to produce nonwoven geotextiles can play an important role in ensuring a circular economy.

 Key points to be addressed include:

  • The contribution to the performance of the whole project
  • The desired durability of the structure in which the geosynthetic is incorporated
  • The probability of microplastics being released

 

Wednesday 19 April

13:30 – 14:00: Fair and sustainable trade: how does WTO help business at times of crisis

Bernard Kuiten, Head of External Relations - World Trade Organization

This presentation will focus on:

  • the major challenges that confront businesses when they trade
  • the growing importance and relevance of sustainability in trade and doing business
  • what the WTO can do to help companies navigate these challenges

Wednesday 19 April

14:30 – 16:00: Textiles and nonwovens, a sustainable future!

This seminar will feature short presentations followed by a panel discussion.

Effectiveness of textile fibres recycling - Mark Croes, Consultant Hygiene and Medical - Centexbel

  • The mapping of textile recycling activities and technologies
  • The economic and environmental aspects of the textile recycling technologies
  • Some options to advance textile-to-textile recycling

Circular pioneers in Textiles - Heidi van den Hul, Business Development Textiles and Nonwovens – fabriCreation

  • Showcases of circular pioneers in the Netherlands
  • Recycling integral part of the business model

Other confirmed speakers/panelists:

  • Alexandre Butte, General Manager and Benoît Rombaut, Technical Director - Andritz Laroche

The following topics will be discussed during the panel discussion:

  • Which recycling processes are already available for creating nonwovens from textile waste?
  • What are the bottlenecks and opportunities?
  • Market outlook for post-consumer use for recycled textiles following the extended producer responsibility
  • Innovative solutions

Thursday 20 April

10.30 – 12.00: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion in the Nonwovens Industry

The importance of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace has been gaining recognition in recent years.

This seminar will look at examples of how players in the nonwovens industry are addressing these challenges to ensure both diversity within their own workplace, as well as within their respective supply chains.

There will be a focus on gender equity, including tackling the gender bias around the role that women can play in manufacturing and the importance of attracting women and girls to careers in STEM.

EDANA member companies taking part: Freudenberg, Johns Manville and Procter & Gamble.

Thursday 20 April

13.30 – 14.30: Nonwovens are essential for the mobility transition

Presentation 1: Nonwovens will continue to play an essential role in the expansion of electro mobility, the digital economy, and future energy storage demands - Ian Dowdle, Sales / Operations leadership - Hollingsworth & Vose

 The presentation will cover the application of nonwoven technology to enable:

  • Safety and Security of e-Mobility
  • Data storage demands of the digital infrastructure
  • Digital commerce
  • Smart grid

Presentation 2: Nonwovens in fuel cells: role of 3D architecture of the structure - Siddharth Shukla, PhD Student - Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

  • Delving into the integral role of nonwovens as gas diffusion layers (GDLs) in fuel cells
  • Unravelling the 3D structure of nonwoven GDLs and its impact on their wettability and compression behaviour
  • Applicability of the basic principles of stereology in the quantification of structural heterogeneities of nonwoven GDLs

Product presentations

Companies presenting the latest insights on their products and services. 
For more info, visit: INDEX™ the leading nonwovens exhibition

INDEX product presentation