Consumers & Retailers Drive Speedy Growth of Sustainable Nonwoven Market

Posted Wednesday, September 6, 2017 1:02 pm

Jen Nastu

In this story:

Consumer Demand Drives Retailer Demand

Walmart, Other Retailers Pressure Manufacturers

Asia's Interesting Market Share Dynamics

Regulatory Attention plus Commercial Instinct Means Proactive Development Favors Biz & Profits

Retailers are increasingly pushing major nonwoven* producers towards the greater use of sustainable materials and processes. Now, according to a report from Smithers Pira, every nonwovens producer is claiming sustainability, though there are varying degrees of certified progress. As the market matures, sustainable nonwovens will continue to take market share from non-sustainable products.

Spunbond producers, for example, are using less energy to extrude polypropylene, and are capturing the emissions, or using lower basis weights, which reduces raw material consumption. However, the products are still 100% petroleum-derived polypropylene, the report points out. Diaper producers are replacing sustainable wood pulp with petroleum based superabsorbents, citing sustainability as a reason for the change. This is because the product is thinner and fewer trucks are required to transport it, and it takes up less space in landfill.

Despite the different levels of current sustainability, the desire for - and consumption of - sustainable nonwovens has been growing for the last two decades and will only continue to increase. Consumption in the sustainable segment has risen from 2.2 million metric tons in 2012, to 6.8 million metric tons in 2017 - an annual increase of more than 10%. This is well above the expansion in demand for non-disposable nonwovens. And the increase in the value for sustainable products has risen even faster, reflecting the fact that customers are increasingly willing to pay more for environmentally sound products, according to The Future of Sustainable Nonwovens to 2022 report.

Growth will continue across the 2017-2022 period, albeit at a reduced rate - common to a maturing market. The segment will exceed 5 million metric tons for the first time in 2022, a 6.4% growth rate. The value of this sector will rise from $14.1 billion in 2017 to $19.8 billion in 2022, continuing to steal market share from non-sustainable products.

Consumer Demand Drives Retailer Demand

Consumers want many things from nonwovens, including low prices, high performances, aesthetics and convenience - but more and more, they also want sustainability.

Not all regions want sustainability equally, however. Consumers in Western Europe and North America want sustainable products most, while developing market regions, such as central Asia and South America, want it least, since they are still satisfying their basic desire for nonwovens (as substitutes for rags, paper, etc). Sustainability desires will come later, Smithers Pira predicts.

Walmart, Other Retailers Pressure Manufacturers

Walmart announced a unilateral implementation of environmentally friendly policies in the mid 2000s, and in 2006 unveiled a sustainable packaging scorecard, for which suppliers were required to provide data. Walmart promised to reward their best suppliers. While packaging was the first area emphasised, both Walmart and their suppliers have acknowledged that other areas will follow, including textiles and nonwovens.

The suggestion that the world’s largest retailer might judge and select nonwovens based on a supplier’s environmental performance has had an immense effect: when the world's largest retailer talks, nonwoven product suppliers listen.

Asia's Interesting Market Share Dynamics

The evolution of sustainable nonwovens is especially strong in the mature markets of Europe and North America. While Asia is now the global leader in overall nonwoven demand, with a market share of 44.5%, it lags from a sustainable perspective. Asia has only a 17.3% share (by tonnage) in sustainables, well behind both North America and Europe. Although it will increase it relative share, it will still only have a market share of 20% by 2022. North America will also see sustainable consumption increase at above the market average across 2017-2022, showing there is still significant untapped demand for this technology in developed world markets.

Consumers, retailers and governments all approach these products with questions, desires and sometimes specific and changing demands. With this in mind, Smithers Pira identifies and analyses four key drivers and trends that will have a major effect on the market’s future across the next five years.

Regulatory Attention, Commercial Instinct Mean Proactive Development Favors Biz and Profits

Globally, almost every facet of the nonwovens industry receives regulatory attention. For natural fibres, pesticides, water and land use are all regulated by a myriad of agencies. Disposal issues are also widespread and growing. The cost for making non-sustainable products comply with these growing regulations makes the proactive development and production of inherently sustainable products favourable for business and profits.

Even if an environmental rationale does not motivate the development of more sustainable products and processes, commercial instinct can. The fact that petroleum as an affordable raw material has a limited lifetime means the development of truly sustainable products based on renewable resources makes it more likely the products and processes will survive economically.

As more and more products compete for less and less petroleum, prices and even availability will become less certain. Long-term commercial survival may depend on becoming more sustainable. No long-term strategy should be based on a material that will eventually cease to be available.

The report pinpoints a few large, multinational nonwovens producers that are embracing sustainability, including:

Kimberley-Clark, a company whose sustainable innovations over the years has led to commercial success. This includes market-leading baby wipes that use a meltbown polypropylene/pulp composite;

Freudenberg has addressed the environmental issue with their ECO-nonwovens line, either based on recycled polyester (Lutradur ECO) or spunlace cellulosics (Vilene ECO), including lyocell, bamboo and cotton.

Download the Smithers Pira's report here: Future of Sustainable Nonwovens to 2022.

*Nonwovens are flat, porous sheets that are made directly from separate fibers or from molten plastic or plastic film. They are not made by weaving or knitting and do not require converting the fibers to yarn, according to the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry.