Kelheim bags ‘Best innovation-Medical textiles’ ITMA award

December 03, 2014 - Germany

Germany based, Kelheim Fibres has been awarded the ITMA Future Materials Award in the category ‘Best innovation – Medical textiles’ for their forward looking solution for incontinence products.

According to Kelheim, with the newly developed viscose speciality fibre - Bramante, it is possible to manufacture incontinence pads that are washable and therefore re-usable.

“These pads offer discretion and at the same time reliability for the user and benefit the environment by significantly reducing the amount of waste created,” the fibre producer said.

This is made possible by the specific properties of the Bramante fibre, which can absorb more than double its own weight in liquids and retain it inside the fibre.

The perfect incontinence pad, as per Kelheim’s research, is a needlepunch nonwoven, which combines Bramante with polyester fibres.

Walter Roggenstein, head of Kelheim’s R&D and Dr Philipp Wimmer, technical manager - New Business, received the award from Charles Beauduin, president of CEMATEX.

“This recognition ascribes to our Bramante fibre, an enormous potential in incontinence products, which is a great success for our whole team,” Walter Roggenstein said.

In the field of incontinence products, Kelheim Fibres benefits from its long-standing expertise in the hygiene industry, as a leading manufacturer of tampon fibres.

Around 90,000 tons of viscose fibres produced every year by Kelheim Fibres find applications in diverse applications like fashion, hygiene and medical products to nonwovens and speciality papers. (AR)