The Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) has discovered how to convert the hard, coarse and stiff fibers of indigenous plants into soft spun yarns, a potential boost to use of renewable resources in textile manufacture. The PTRI process involves fiber pretreatment with alkaline chemicals and mechanical processing with fluted rollers to make fibers spinnable into [...]

Malcolm Campbell, managing director of Joseph H. Clissold cloth design and export firm in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, criticized Prime Minister Gordon Brown for rejecting plans for a national academy for fashion and textile skills. Campbell says that the failure to establish a national academy and “dumbing down” existing training programs would set back skills [...]

Customers purchasing shade products of Polyfab USA Polytex® and Comtex® extra-heavy-duty knitted shadecloth asked the company to establish a recycling process to take pre- and post-consumer material out of the waste stream. Polyfab USA, Manhattan Beach, Calif., has partnered with Recycle Solutions of Memphis, Tenn., to launch a recycling program for HDPE knitted shadecloth. “We [...]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed new rules that would require automakers to improve side curtain airbags by making them cover more of the window, stay inflated longer and possibly be tethered to keep occupants inside the vehicle during a rollover. Approximately 6,200 die annually from side window ejections, and NHTSA wants [...]

Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America opened its winter exhibit in February with the innovative architecture and landscape work of Snøhetta, an international design group located in Oslo, Norway, and New York, N.Y. The members of Snøhetta, named after a Norwegian mountain peak, wanted to integrate architecture and landscape in a new way, and [...]

Developments to watch in nonwovens and technical textiles. By Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar India is being watched carefully by the global community due to its economic growth numbers and growing political stature in the world. Investments from North American and European companies are already underway: Finland-based Ahlstrom will soon commission a $47 million facility for developing [...]

Winter weather kindles human longing for the rites of spring, including lounging with food and friends on decks, porches and patios. A’besco Blinds and Awnings, New South Wales, Australia, plans to take advantage of outdoor living trends, as well as a 2007 smoking ban instituted in Australia, by selling the SUNRAIN® Bistro line of retractable [...]

Enterprising business students at Simon Fraser University (SFU), Surrey, B.C., Canada, learned how to organize the people and partnerships necessary for success when they developed a project to teach high-school students about sustainability and the economic value of reusable wastes. The Banner Bag project “is about keeping banners out of the landfill,” says SFU student [...]

Fossil-fuel consumption releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the environment, and NatureWorks LLC, a Minneapolis, Minn., company making Ingeo™ plant-based fibers and bioplastics, showcased its renewable products to the world in December 2009. The United Nations Conference on Climate Change drew world leaders and environmental activists to Copenhagen, Denmark, for an intensive discussion [...]

The Talisman Centre for Sport and Wellness, a full-service Calgary, Alberta, Canada, athletic facility hosting Olympic-caliber competitors, will upgrade its 1983 fabric roof by installing a material with five times the insulating value. Birdair Inc., Amherst, N.Y., began work on the 162,000-square-foot roof in January, using the company’s Tensotherm™ with Nanogel® architectural composite membrane system. [...]