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Transforming the landscape for disposable wipes
Over the past three years, the disposable nonwoven wipes sector has come to symbolise the adaptability of the nonwovens industry, having undergone significant structural changes under the combined weight of new regulations and sustainability targets.
By 2022, the European Union’s Single-Use Plastics Directive had been fully implemented across member states, with the requirement that wipes containing synthetic fibres must carry a prominent ‘contains plastic’ warning label and disposal information on packs.
This made it imperative for brand owners to accelerate the substitution of polyester and polypropylene in their products, which proved no small undertaking during and immediately after the global upheaval caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. There was, of course, advance warning, and the transition from thermoplastic fibre webs toward cellulose-based substrates had already been underway for some time.
WET-LAID/SPUNLACE (WLS) and CARDED-PULP (CP)
Two technologies that have been key to this shift have been wet-laid/spunlace (WLS) and carded-pulp (CP). Both processes exploit the high absorbency and biodegradability of pulp while preserving the strength, softness, and uniformity expected in a finished wipe. Their advantages can be described in terms of web formation, bonding mechanics, efficiency, and end-product performance.
WLS employs a paper-making style former to disperse pulp fibres in water and deposit them onto a forming wire. Short fibres such as lyocell or viscose are added to improve strength and surface quality. Because pulp is fiberized and delivered in suspension, the resulting web exhibits excellent uniformity compared to purely dry-laid processes. This minimises weak spots and enhances lotion distribution in the final wipe.
In CP, staple fibres are first opened and carded into a light web, and a pulp layer is then deposited onto it, providing absorbency. The carded fibres act as a structural framework, and the dual-layer structure gives CP substrates a characteristic balance of softness and resilience. In an advanced variant, CPC (carded-pulp-carded), the pulp layer is sandwiched between two carded webs, and all three layers are hydroentangled together. The pulp is ‘locked in’ between the carded layers, so the wipe feels more textile-like and withstands tougher applications. See more.
Source: Online/NAN
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