Nonwovens are part of technical textiles which find applications
predominantly in disposable and semi-durable sectors. The nonwoven industry became
an organized sector during the late 1960s and early 70s with the formation of the
Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) in the USA and the European Disposables and Nonwovens Association (EDANA). According to Ian Butler
of INDA, worldwide growth of the nonwovens industry is estimated to be 7.9 % which
will be worth over $ 30 billion by 2012. The per capita consumption in developed
countries is over 3 kilograms. However,
the nonwoven industry in India is in its very early stage with the per capita
consumption of less than 100 grams. The annual production in India is around 80,000 tons as compared to 900,000 tons in China. As the middle class population in India is growing, which is set to reach half a billion by 2030, there will be need for
lifestyle improvement products that use nonwovens in many different ways. These
include baby diapers, feminine hygiene products, medical care products,
automotive textiles, etc. This lecture will highlight recent projects that
utilize nonwovens and nanofiber technologies for developing value-added
textiles that have applications in military. In addition, the growth pattern of
Indian technical textiles industry will be discussed as the contribution of the
growing Indian technical textile industry to the global technical textile
industry will be very important.
Growth Scenario of Indian Technical Textiles Industry
It is fairly well-accepted in the nonwovens and technical
textiles industry that the consumption pattern of technical textiles/nonwovens
is directly related to the GDP per capita income. The rise in the income levels
will lead to rise in the middle class population which in turn will lead to increase
in the production and consumption of nonwoven and technical textiles. A recent
study by Ramkumar and Arunachalam has shown that based on World Bank GDP
statistics, Indias technical textile industry will grow at 13.3 %. This
estimate was carried out in mid 2008, when the growth rate of Indian GDP was
predicted to be around 9%. With the current global economic turmoil, the growth
rate for India has slightly come down and it shall be between 7-8%. This rate
is far higher than the expected growth rate in the United States and Europe. As the GDP in India will be growing around 7-8 %, nonwovens and technical textile
industry are set to grow at least to this level (around 8%). The target for the
Indian textile industry is $150 billion by 2015, of which 10 % should be from
technical textiles sector. Government of India has realized the potential of
technical textiles industry to the overall Indian textiles industry and has
created supportive schemes such as:
- Technology Upgradation Fund, which now encompasses
technical textile sector.
- Creation of four Centers of Excellence which will focus
on agrotextiles, geotextiles, protective textiles and medical textiles.
- Creation of awareness in nonwovens and technical
textiles by conducting workshops and seminars around the country.
- Establishment of a five year National Technological
Mission on Technical Textiles.
These Government schemes can be efficient only with the
participation of all stakeholders such as academia, research organizations,
industry and Government. The next five years will witness momentum towards the
growth of nonwovens and technical textiles sector in India.
What are Technical Textiles?
It should be clearly understood that not all technical
textiles are nonwovens. Nonwovens technology is a manufacturing process of developing
fabrics directly from fibers by skipping intermediary processes such as spinning,
winding, weaving, etc. Whereas, technical textiles can be manufactured using
conventional manufacturing processes such as weaving, braiding, knitting as
well as nonwoven technologies. As of today, nonwovens have penetrated highly
into disposable sectors where aesthetic aspects are not of primary importance. The
value addition to nonwovens and technical textiles come from the functional
properties they provide such as bodily fluid absorbency in the case of diapers,
fluid repulsion in the case of medical garments, softness and resiliency in the
case of high-loft upholstery products. Depending upon the type of end-use
requirements and the economics, different available nonwoven and conventional technologies
are selected to develop particular technical textiles products. A good example
for this is the use of spunlacing technology to develop lightweight disposable
wipes.
