Techtextil 2009: Messe Frankfurt organises International Natural Fibres Congress
published: June 5th, 2009website: http://www.cosmoworlds.com
Techtextil Frankfurt
Jun 16-18, 2009, Frankfurt, Germany
The United Nations have declared 2009 to be the International Year of Natural Fibres. Therefore, Techtextil will also be spotlighting products such as cotton, flax and cellulose and drawing attention to their potential for use in technical applications. From 16 to 18 June, exhibitors at the International Trade Fair for Technical Textiles and Nonwovens will present the results of their research activities, and new products including, for example, a technology for the production of functional fibres, a composite based on flax and a yarn made of organic cotton. Moreover, the International Natural Fibres Congress will be held parallel to the fair.
International Natural Fibre Congress to be held parallel to Techtextil 2009
Millions of people in the poorest countries of the world earn a living by cultivating and processing natural fibres. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the aim of the International Year of Natural Fibres is to increase and develop the effectiveness and sustainability of this branch of agriculture. Messe Frankfurt has taken up this idea and will hold the International Natural Fibre Congress parallel to Techtextil on 17 and 18 June. The Congress will focus on the subject of natural fibres in connection with ‘Innovative Functions' and their use in the ‘Mobility' and ‘Construction' fields.
This event enjoys the support of important associations including the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) from Switzerland whose Director General, Dr. Christian Schindler, says, “I would like to thank Messe Frankfurt for having taken the initiative to organise the ‘Natural Fibre Congress' during the official ‘International Year of Natural Fibres'. To hold such a congress in conjunction with the renowned Techtextil fair will certainly help to increase the awareness of the broad range of applications of natural fibres outside their traditional applications in the apparel and home textile segments. Since sustainability and ecology will continue to play an increasingly important role in the future, it is important to showcase the potential of natural fibres in the segment of technical textiles as well.” The Managing Director of the Bremen Cotton Exchange, Jan Wellmann, says, “The Natural Fibre Congress during Techtextil will offer good information from the latest research projects on the use of natural fibres.”
Procotex launches a new composite based on natural fibres:
“At this year's Techtextil, we will present new composites based on flax”, says Bruno Douchy, Procotex Sales Director. The Belgian company has its head office in the heart of a European flax-growing region. More than 120,000 tonnes of long flax fibres are produced every year in Northern France, The Netherlands and Belgium and exported throughout the world to be spun or woven for use in the fashion and upholstery industries.
Flax is a natural fibre distinguished by elasticity and flexural strength. It can be processed easily and inexpensively, soaking and steam treatments are unnecessary. Even that part of the flax produced during the scutching process, the tow, is used for making ropes and as cellulose in the paper industry. In particular, this flax tow is gaining rapidly in significance as reinforcement for composites containing plastics, e.g., in the furniture and automobile industries. An important point in this connection is that flax is cheaper than glass fibre. Other advantages of biological composites are that they can be recycled and incinerated with no residue. In Frankfurt, Procotex will show ways of binding flax with plastics to create materials with different degrees of hardness. New in this connection is pre-blending natural fibres with polypropylene or BioPECs, a polyester fibre, which makes moulding possible at the comparatively low temperature of 240°C. Depending on the blend, the finished product will be more or less hard, e.g., a combination of 50 percent flax and 50 percent polypropylene produces a relatively hard product that can be used, inter alia, in car doors. A felt is created during the manufacturing process and heating melts the polypropylene. The final shape is achieved by subsequent cold pressing. The result is a light-weight material with specific gravity as low as 1.2. Procotex points out that the material is not inflammable, does not chip and has no sharp edges. According to the manufacturer, it is also resistant to acids and alkaline substances.
"Procotex is not only active in the field of developing new materials on the basis of natural fibres, but we recycle also waste streams made of natural fibres (f.e. jute bags,jute edges…) as they can be used more than once. As natural fibres are healthy, comfortable, renewable and possess high tech as well as natural characteristics, we are committed to develop and promote them further and that not only in 2009, the International Year of Natural Fibres", says Douchy.
