Index20, one of the most important exhibitions in the calendar for manufacturers and users of nonwovens, will open its doors to visitors from around the world from 31 March to 2 April. The event (which since 1984 has taken place every three years at the Palexpo Exhibition and Conference Centre in Geneva, Switzerland) has long been associated with hygiene markets, but its 2020 incarnation offers plenty of evidence that the industry is realising a rapidly growing interest in added-value products.
Adrian Wilson (standing), an experienced observer of the nonwovens industry, will host a seminar (
Smart Nonwovens) during
Index20 that is dedicated to the wealth of high-performance applications for such materials.
Among the seminars taking place during the exhibition, for instance, is the first Smart Nonwovens—high-performance applications, which will take place in the Index Innovation Lab area, Room W in Hall 3, on the afternoon of 1 April, and is co-organised by ourselves, International Newsletters, and the organisers of the exhibition, EDANA and Palexpo. Speakers from some of the industry’s most innovative companies – Norafin Industries, Fibroline, Research Institutes of Sweden (formerly Innventia) and the Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute (NIRI) Ltd – will discuss applications, processes, business strategies and markets related to highly functional nonwovens that have been developed for niche end-uses, all under the watchful eye of Adrian Wilson, who has chaired several successful editions of Nonwovens for High-performance Applications, the two-day conference series dedicated to these subjects. Wilson will also present an overview of the wide range of high-performance applications not covered by the other speakers.
In addition, outside the conference room in the Index Innovation Lab, attendees will be able to see exhibits from the speakers’ companies dedicated to innovation, and research and development (R&D) across a wide range of high-performance applications. The area will also display exhibits from others, including the nominees for this year’s Index Awards, which this year include: a heatable geosynthetic and a breathable, biodegradable film for medical applications, developed by members of the Hassan Group; a calcium carbonate additive for polypropylene (PP) nonwovens from Omya International AG.
Among the stands in the main exhibition halls, visitors will also be able to see many companies familiar to readers of this website, such as Andritz, Beaulieu Fibres, DiloGroup and International Fibres Group, showing innovations targeting the manufacture and use of high-performance fabrics. (Over the coming days, we will be reporting on the exhibition plans of more innovative companies, so be sure to keep checking our latest news.)
Finally, there will be other seminars taking place during Index20, including ones dedicated to the markets for filtration, geosynthetics, transportation and infection-control. The last of these is of course highly topical given current concerns about the spread of the latest coronavirus (COVID-19). EDANA and Palexpo say they are keeping up to date with advice from the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), itself following the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), and that there is currently no reason to cancel or postpone the event. The latest information, including advice for those planning to attend is available from the event’s website.
