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NWI Welcomes Arkema as a New ‘Full Member’

Arkema Joins NWI as New 'Full Member'

The Nonwovens Institute (NWI) is pleased to recognize Arkema for its decision to join more than 50 industry-leading organizations as a member of the Institute.

Building on its unique set of expertise in materials science, Arkema designs materials to address the ever-growing demand for innovative and sustainable materials, driven by the challenges of new energies, new technologies, the depletion of resources, mobility, and increasing urbanization. The Group is structured into three coherent and complementary segments dedicated to Specialty Materials (Adhesive Solutions, Advanced Materials, and Coating Solutions), accounting for 91% of its sales, and an Intermediates segment leveraging competitive and global product lines. Sustained by the collective energy of its 21,100 employees, Arkema operates in some 55 countries around the world.

Included in Arkema’s offer of sustainable solutions for the textile industry are Rilsan® polyamides, Pebax® elastomers, Platamid® copolyamides, Kynar® PVDF and Kepstan® PEKK. Arkema offers these high-performance polymers for meltblown media, electrospun membranes, spunbond media, and both monofilament and multifilament fibers. Arkema is a leading supplier of material solutions derived from a renewable feedstock: Castor Beans. Rilsan® PA11, Pebax® Rnew® elastomers and Platamid® Rnew® Hot Melt adhesives are all derived from this same bio-based feedstock. Arkema is proud to note the August 30, 2023 receipt of a  “Sustainable Initiative of the Year” award by the Business Intelligence Group for its commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of bio-based Rilsan® PA11.

“Building on its unique set of expertise in materials science, Arkema designs materials to address the ever-growing demand for innovative and sustainable materials, driven by the challenges of new energies, new technologies, the depletion of resources, mobility, and increasing urbanization.”

In addition to polymers, Arkema also offers complementary solutions tailored for nonwovens. Bostik Global is an Arkema company, which is a leader in the production of adhesives used in the construction of personal care and hygiene articles, especially where softness is critical to consumer preference. Bostik’s adhesive requires just 2-3 grams of solution to assemble the 20 or so components making up a disposable baby diaper. 

Other efficient products for diapers are superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) made from Arkema’s acrylic acid monomer. Less than 10 grams of this superabsorbent polymer gel is enough to absorb up to 100 times its mass in liquid! 

Arkema has also been one of the leading global manufacturers of organic peroxides since 1953. Luperox® peroxides act as reaction initiators for a variety of polymer production processes and are used to tailor the molecular weight/molecular weight distribution of many polypropylene polymers used in nonwovens.

For more information about Arkema and its product offerings, visit https://www.arkema.com as well as https://www.bostik.com

Membership in NWI brings a variety of benefits and can be scaled to meet member needs.