#Sustainability

2021-09-30

Suominen shifting to fossil-free electricity in Europe

As part of Suominen's active work to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the nonwovens producer shifting entirely to fossil-free electricity in all its European plants. “This shift is one of the measures we are taking to reduce our GHG emissions in the future,” says Juan Carlos Esteve, Director, HSEQ.

Sustainability is at the core of Suominen's strategy. Suominen aims to reduce its energy and water consumption, landfill waste, and greenhouse gas emissions respectively by 20% per ton of product by 2025, compared to the base year of 2019. In 2020, the greenhouse gas emissions of the company decreased by 14.9% per ton of product.

Suominen is constantly looking for various ways to decrease the greenhouse gas emissions from its operations. “The shift towards sustainable energy sources is a huge step forward for us, but other measures remain important as well. For example, improvements in the energy efficiency have a direct impact on our emissions,” Esteve explains.

Reducing the environmental impact of its operations ensures that Suominen can offer more sustainable products to its customers. “By shifting to fossil-free electricity sources, we can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our products. As part of our sustainability work, we are calculating the carbon footprint of our nonwovens as well as corporate level emissions annually,” says Noora Rantanen, Sustainability and Marketing Manager.

Suominen has a long history of developing products that combine sustainability, quality, and performance. Suominen’s sustainable product portfolio combines their nonwovens with the lowest environmental impacts. The portfolio consists of products made of renewable, recycled and/or plastic-free raw materials as well as compostable and totally dispersible nonwovens suitable for every purpose.

Suominen reports decline in sales and earnings – Cost savings program and leadership change to drive recovery

Finnish nonwovens manufacturer Suominen Corporation has reported a noticeable drop in both revenue and profitability for the first half of 2025, reflecting a challenging global trade environment, particularly the impact of recent U.S. tariffs, as well as persistently high energy and raw material costs.

Highlights from Suominen’s successful Innovating in Sustainability Seminar in Italy

Suominen hosted its Innovating in Sustainability Seminar in Arona, Italy, on March 19–20, 2025. The event brought together around 50 professionals from across the nonwovens value chain, creating a vibrant platform for in-depth discussions, knowledge sharing, and valuable networking. The seminar was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants.

Pioneering open-source framework shows how early innovation drives a just and net-zero fashion future

The non-profit H&M Foundation, in collaboration with Accenture, has unveiled From Signals to Systems Change, an insight report calling on the fashion industry to rethink its role in transformation. At its core is the Reimagined System Map, a pioneering open-source framework that visualises how early-stage innovation could drive a just and net-zero textile future.

Lenzing confirmed as global leader in Canopy sustainability ranking

Lenzing AG has once again taken first place in this year's Hot Button Report published by the Canadian non-profit organization Canopy. With 34.5 out of 40 points and no known risk of sourcing from ancient and endangered forests, Lenzing remains one of the most sustainable companies in regenerated cellulose fiber production – setting a benchmark for responsible business practices in the textile and nonwovens industries.

Nike unites innovation, design and product teams to accelerate athlete-centered innovation

Nike, Jordan Brand and Converse are joining forces under a new, athlete-focused creation structure aimed at accelerating innovation and driving growth across NIKE, Inc. The new setup unites the Innovation, Design and Product teams from all three brands into a single “creation engine” that will enable greater sharing of insights, technology and manufacturing methods throughout the innovation process. This integration is part of Nike’s new Sport Offense strategy and is designed to enhance the creation of products that help athletes perform at their best.

DORNIER celebrates its anniversary at ITMA Asia + CITME

To mark its 75th anniversary, machine and plant manufacturer Lindauer DORNIER will be presenting the latest developments in its rapier and air-jet weaving machines at ITMA Asia + CITME in Singapore (Hall 2, Stand B401) from 28 to 31 October 2025. The focus will be on energy-efficient weaving technologies, new IoT solutions for networked textile production and systems for the series production of modern fibre composite components.

BCI warns against ‘dangerous dilution’ of EU corporate directives

The approval of the European Commission’s Omnibus I proposal by the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs, accepting controversial changes to key sustainability directives is of great concern. These changes, namely to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), threaten to significantly dilute business reporting and due diligence obligations.