#Nonwovens / Technical Textiles

2019-07-04

Kelheim Fibres wins World of Wipes Innovation Award

Helmut Lauterbach, Kelheim-Fibres, receives the WoW-Innovation-Award from INDA president Dave Rousse. © 2019 INDA

During the World of Wipes in Atlanta, the Bavarian manufacturer of viscose speciality fibres has been presented with the World of Wipes Innovation Award.

The award recognizes the newly developed Danufil®QR fibre, a positively charged viscose fibre, that was specifically designed for use in disinfectant wipes: Danufil® QR is the only viscose fibre worldwide that – in contrast to standard viscose fibres – binds less than 10% of “quats” (quarternary ammonium compounds), so that this common disinfectant can release its intended effect in the wipe. Danufil® QR fibres are completely made of renewable cellulose and therefore fully biodegradable. They can be easily processed with all nonwovens technologies.

The annually presented WoW Innovation Award honours products that both expand the use of nonwovens and demonstrate creativity, uniqueness, and technical sophistication. The unique thing about the award: One third of the votes comes directly from the WOW attendees.

“Product innovations have a right to exist only if they work in practice and if they create added value. Therefore, we are particularly pleased about this approval from the industry”, says Matthew North, Commercial Director at Kelheim Fibres.

North also takes the award as a confirmation of the company’s strategy: After a large fire in October 2018, Kelheim Fibres is currently rebuilding their fibre production site.

“We seize the historic opportunity to rebuild our plant with state-of-the-art technology and to meet the latest environmental standards. At the same time, we use the resulting slow-down in production to focus our energy even more on new fibre developments and process improvements. “Coming back stronger” remains our motto!”

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