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By Steve Kotz

nvironmentalsustainabilityis not a fad. Survey tallyfriendlyproducts,such as thosethat are not only

most any industry,and chancesare,at or nearthe biodegradable, but also madefrom recycledfibers.
top of the list of major issuesat hand,is how to The demandis there.And organizations and manu-
b e c o m e a n d m a i n t a i n a n e c o - f r i e n d l yb u s i n e s s . facturersalike are researching and developing waysto
Consumersare demandingit, and in turn, brandsare convertthese recycledfibers into wipes, and some have
passingon the needto sourcesustainablematerialsto alreadyhit the market.
theirsuppliers.
Reduce.Reuse. Recycle.These three words have PETproject
becomesynonymous with the GreenMovement.But in "Use of recycledfibers producesan equivalentwipe
the nonwovenswipes industry,they'retricky to apply. product and goes through the same testing and
Afterall, a wipe is a productthat is not reused- it's dis- approvals as virgin.yet it is environmentally friendlyand
cardedafter use. And as a cleaning product, wipes are s u s t a i n a b l e , s
" t a t e s D a v i d P o o l e , C E O of Poole
in direct competition with reusable rags. But when it Company, a Greenville, SC distributor of recycled fibers
comes to recycling, however, wipes manufacturing has and PET fiber. PET (PolyEthylene Terephthalate) is a
made some serious headway. While the wipes them- strong but lightwerght form of clear polyester, used for
selveswon't get tossed in the recycle bin after use, it's beverage containers.
howthey'rebeingmadethat counts,as they can be pro- PooleCompanyoffers EcoSure,a recycledfiber avail-
ducedusinga varietyof recycled fibers. able as an end use wipe.EcoSure falls intothe category
Withdemandfor consumer and industrial wipes being of a post consumer recycle (PCR) product."PCRis the
per in 'highest'levelof recycling, meaning it is specifically divert-
forecastto increase4.3% annumto $2'3 billion
2014, market researchfirm The FreedoniaGroup says ing items from a landflll that have completed their intend-
'For emptyplasticwater
demand will actuallydeceleratefrom rates achieved ed use."Pooleexplains. example,
from 2OO4to 2OO9due to increasingmarketmaturity bottles (PEl are used to create EcoSure fibersand other-
and a shift in preferences to more environmentally wise would be destined for a landfill. Poole Company takes
product created as disposable - the water bottle - and
friendlyconsumergoodsand cleaningmethods.So, in a
responseto the greentrend,wipes manufacturers can is able to diminish the negative impact on the environment
appealto consumersby developing more environmen-by recycling it intofiberand givingit anotherlife."

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Plasticwaterbottles become wipesandothernonwoven
withPoole Company's EcoSure recycled fibers.
The environmental impact
fiber polymerchemistryhelpswith fiber tactile properties
versusvirgin-polymer fibers,"he says.
The orocess of how a PETbottlebecomesa nonwoven
wipestartswhen the bottle is collectedby independent pri-
vate and public collection agencies. Then the PET under-
goes a rigoroussortingand washingprocessand ground
into flake. "This sanitizationprocessfor EcoSuremeets
the same standardsas the recycledflake that goes into
producingsoda and waterbottles,"Poolesays.
Duringthe fiber-makingprocess,the flake is melted
downat 290'C into liquidpolymer.The liquidpolymeris
extrudedand spun into polyesterstaplefiber usingthe
sameprocessas high-quality staplevirginfibers.Thefiber
is purchased and usedby manufacturers to producenon-
products wovenfabrics,usingspunlace, thermalor adhesivebond-
ing, as well as needlepunching processes."Thefiber is litrIi
:tii:il
also widelyusedin textilesand industrialproducts,again ,]rtli
,]],ll
of recycling PET, according performing equivalent to fibersmadefrom virginpolymer, :,ll

to the National Association for PET Container Resources yet with sustainable advantages," saysPoole. :1tl

(NAPCOR), includes reduced energy consumption by EcoSure fibers range from t.2 denierto 5OOdenier
84% and greenhouse emissions by 77o/o (compared to and are made from 100% PCR PET. "Veryfew manufac-
usingvirginfiber).Annual recycling of 1.5 billion pounds turers can make the whole gamut of denierusing recy-
of PETcontainersinto fiber resulted in 46 trillion BTUs cled fibers," Poole says, adding that EcoSure is available
-
of energysaved enoughto power 486,000 US homes as a true 1.2 denier for hygiene-grade technical nonwo-
for a year.lt also resultedin 1'25 million tons of green- ven operations all the way up to a 500 denier for pro-
house gas emissionskept out of our atmosphere, duction of industrial scrub Pads.
which,according to NAPCOR, is equalto the removalof "Generally speaking,softerfabricsrequirea smaller
190,000 vehiclesfrom US highways. denier, whichPooleCompany is successfully ableto pro-
Theseare some pretty impressivenumbers.Here's duce with a recycled fiber," says Poole. "EcoSure is suit-
more:85 76-ozPETbottleswill produce the fill for one able for hygiene (wipes, diaper linings, etc.), industrial
sleepingbag, five two-literPETbottles will make one nonwovenproducts(industrialwipes,furniture,automo-
squarefoot of polyestercarpet,an extra largeT-shirtor tive,filtration, insulation, scrubpads,foam-replacement
fillingfor a skijacket. seat cushions), geotextiles for erosioncontrolsuch as
Usingsimilarmethodology of NAPCOR, PooleCompany AmericanExcelsior Recylex, where tOOo/o of looseweb is
appliedcalculatlons to the nonwovens market,and deter- made from EcoSureand all types of textile products
mined that five 16-oz PETbottles will produceone 72- suchas apparel,socksand home fabrics.
countbox of wipes(basedon 52 gramwipesmadewith "EcoSureis a very good fit for single-useitems like
70% EcoSureand 30% other).And five 16-ozPETbottles wipeswhereearth-friendly and sustainableissuesare
will producethe acquisition distribution layerfor one 72 problematic. Wipeswith virgincontentare used once
countboxof diaoers. and thrown away.Wipes made with EcoSurefibers
"EcoSurefiber is a sustainableoptionfor consumers essentiallyhavetwo lives- its life as the originalPET
and manufacturers wantingto be environmentally respon- productand its life as a wipe- doublingits intendeduse
sible.lt is an excellentalternative to virginfiberand with and thereforereducingthe environmentalimpact and
equivalentquality,"DavidPoolesays, emphasizing that givinga producta secondlife,"Poolesays.
while EcoSure is an excellent alternative, the quality of the PooleCompanymade EcoSurethird-party certifiedby
and even results in a softer product. SCS (Scientific Certification Systems) in 2O1O - the first
wipe is not sacrificed,
"An additionalbenefit of using a recycledfiber such as in North Americato receivecertificationin PETstaple
EcoSurefor wipes and nonwovenapplicationsis a softer, fiber. And the certificationwas renewedin 201-1-.To
gentlerproduct,as a resultof PooleCompany's proprietary date, less than five companiesworldwidehavethis dis-
processes,and becausebottle polymersare designedto tinctionin the PETcategory.
be more elastic comparedto virgin-fiberpolymers.The "Yearsago, sustainability efforts in nonwovenswere

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primarilyfocusedon packaging.More recentlythe mar- into the wipes market, look no further than Rockline
ket shiftedto using eco-friendly methodsin the manu- lndustries'Regenerated CottonWipe.The productwon
factureof wipes,and this is primarilydone in one of two the VisionaryAwardfor the most innovative use of a non-
ways.Today,some wipes are made from recycledmate- wovenin a consumerproductfor 2OLO. "Although this
rials such as PETwhile others address sustainability particularwipe was a brandsold in England,Rockline
throughdecomposition efforts(PLA)that requirespecif- has also workedwith recycled/regenerated companies
ic environments and conditions to biodegrade. for US product lines," O'Regan says.
"Although eachhas environmental positivesandvarying "Manynonwovensmanufacturers that producespun-
levelsof success,both processesimpactthe ecosystem lace materialfor wipes have at least tested the use of
differentlywith vastly different carbon footprints and these fibers," O'Regansays, adding,"The advantages
-
results. Anotherinterestingnote is that, in theory'nonwc are many,includingvariabilityin length recycledcotton
vens made from EcoSurecould be recycledagain and fiberis likelyto be morevariablein lengththan virgincot-
givenan additionallife, if advancesweremade in the col- ton, which by its nature has variability.This might or
lectionof recyclables market. Forexample,Pooleis under- mightnot havean impacton carding,"she says,noting
goingthis nowwith a customerin the wovenand knit mar- that another advantageof using recycledcotton is the
ket wherethe institutionalproductwill be manufactured assurancethat no dark coloredfibersfind theirway into
with EcoSure, and at the end of the products'desiredlife, a baleof whitefiber- an issuethat a userdoesn'thave
it will be recycledand then put into newlife onceagain.By with virginfiber.
using EcoSure,the producthas the abilityto be recycled Cost is anotherfactor.Recycledcottonfiber is consid-
and repurposedagainand again,extendingor divertingit erably less expensive, according to O'Regan,but it's cot-
altogetherfrom a landfill. Givinga productthat was once ton's sustainable attributes that she keysin on. She says,
disposable - -
a newlife or two or three is special." "Cotton has a great sustainability story. lt's a productof
Mother Nature. lt has been supporting life on earth for
Pickingcotton manythousands of years. lt is annually renewable. Cotton
Cottonproductshavebeen recycledfor quite sometime, provides food as well as fiber. The seeds are high in pro-
longbeforethe sustainability revolution. Cottonjeans, t- tein and in demandas feed for cows. The stems, branch-
shirts,shirtsand otherclothing,plussheets,towels,etc. es and burrs left on the fields providenourishment for
have been donatedor re-soldthroughthrift shops for good soil health.Cotton fiber is 100% cellulose, lt comes
decades. More recently,cotton products(clothing'home from MotherNatureand returnsto MotherNaturethrough
textiles and cutting room scraps)havefound new,recy- a naturalbiodegradation. In fact, in a compostpile' it
cled livesin differentproducts.Afterthe trimmings zip biodegradesmorethan 90% in 28 days' Recycledcotton
-
pers, grommets,etc. - are removed,the raw materials has an even better story.In additionto all of the above,
aretransformed throughprocesseslikegarnetingbackto the multioleuse of the sameraw materialprovidesmore
a fiberform and baled.This cottonthen becomesa raw sustainable benefitsfromthe samecrop,"
material for other uses. And the wipes market is one
wherethe life of a cottonfiber is gettingextended. SMART thinking
"Recycledcotton has been used for wipes and is The SecondaryMaterialsAnd Recycled Textilesassocia-
expected to grow over the years to come," says Jan tion is an organization devoted to the recyclingcause.
O'Regan,director,strategic Global
initiatives, Supply Chain An international organization, and one that's been
Division,Cotton Incorporated, a nonprofit organization around since 1-932, SMART has a hand in all facets of
basedin Cary,NC,USA,that's dedicated to cottonresearch the recycling stream.
and marketing."CottonIncorporated toucheseverypoint Successfulrecyclingrelies on interdependence, and
of the cottonvaluechainfrom research into seed and soil this is one of the SMART's themes. Reusing and recy-
to textile chemistry,technicalsupport in manufacturing cling is effectivewhenthere is cohesionand communi-
plantsand of course,sustainability," she says. cationbetweenthe raw materialsourceand the product
Cotton'suse as a wipes fiber has been a growing manufacturer. And in the case of wipes, SMARThas
trend in recentyears,as myths regardingits efficiency developed an extensive networkof companiesfrom both
and compatibility on nonwovens-making equipmenthave the supplier and manufacturing sides,and also in the
been challengedand overcome.(See Household& realm of education, advocacy and community.
Personal CareWipes,September2005). "SMART as an organization has onlythreemarketsto
For an indicationof cotton'ssuccessfulpenetration lookout for and represent: wipes, used clothingand tex-

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 tile fibers.SMART'smissionis to reducethe amountof wipes made with
fibers from post consumertextiles
textiles going into landfills by finding new uses for such as clothing
or householdtextiles,there mightbe
them," explainsLarryGroipen,presidentof the SMART issues relating
to impuritiesthat technologyhas not
executiveboards,and also presidentof ERC Wiping caught up with.
In the perfect world, textile fibers
Products,Lynn,MA, USA. would give strength and absorbencyto a wipe,,'
Groipensaysbeinga memberof SMARTis a valuable Groipensays,adding,"l
wouldliketo see someexoer_
businesstool for both the manufacturing and sales seg_ imentingtake place becauseSMARTis workingwith
ments. "SMARTmemberscollect,sort and processtex_ local,state and
federalrecyclingagenciesto encour-
tilesfrom bothpostconsumerand post industrialmarkets. age more textile
diversionfrom landfills.And without
Other SMARTmembers manufacture,convert,package greater markets
for fibers made from clothing,there
and sell wipes made from recycledfibers. SMARTmem_ may be a limit
on how muchcan be recvcled."
bersthat sell wipessupplythem as a primaryitem rather Groipenemphasizes that SMARTr"rb"r, woutdlike
thana secondary itemsuchas a Jan-San dis_ to see wipes made with recycledfibers. He says,,,lt is
or industrial
tributor.Therefore,SMARTmemberstend to sell more our hope to encourage
SMARTand INDAmembersto
wipes,"Groipensays."SMARTmembersare a sourceof worktogetherto
developthesewipes.lf a wipecouldbe
raw materialsfor flber producersand wipe producers. producedusingpost
consumertextilefibersfrom cloth_
SMARTmembersare also an outletfor off spec material." ing,therewould
be a greatsellingmessage.lt wouldcer_
But when it comesto nonwovens wipesbeingman_ tainlyhighlightthe valueof disposablewipes over rent_
ufacturedfrom recycledtextiles, it's somethingthat ed shop towels."
SMARTmember are unsure about, but certainlyis For more information about SMARI visit
somethingthat they want and expect to see. ,,Asfor www.smartasn.org.
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