World’s first nonwovens with certified circular polypropylene

SABIC is collaborating with Fibertex Personal Care, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of spunbond nonwovens for the hygiene industry, to create a range of nonwovens using high-purity recycled plastics from SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio and services. This will be the world’s first nonwovens range based on recycled plastics in the hygiene industry. The initiative is seen by the two partners as an exciting step towards a more sustainable supply chain and greater recyclability for nonwovens.

The new nonwovens will be made from SABIC’s circular polypropylene, using feedstock derived from previously used plastics, certified under the ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification) system. The material is part of the SABIC PURECARES™ portfolio of polypropylene for Personal Hygiene applications that was introduced at the beginning of this year. The certified circular PP material produced by SABIC is created from post-consumer mixed plastics that have been broken down into their molecular building blocks and then re-polymerized to create virgin plastics. The new material can be used as a drop-in solution while meeting the brand owner’s requirements for purity and consumer safety for the hygiene industry applications.

SABIC applies the “mass balance” approach to polymers offered as part of its TRUCIRCLE portfolio and services which spans design for recyclability, mechanically recycled products, certified circular products from feedstock recycling of used plastics, and certified renewables products from bio-based feedstock.

The widely recognized ISCC PLUS certification verifies that mass balance accounting follows predefined and transparent rules. In addition, it provides traceability along the supply chain, from the feedstock to the final product. 

Fibertex Personal Care will provide certified circular nonwovens to its customers with their Comfort, Elite, Dual and Loft product range. These certified nonwovens can be adopted in downstream processes, without compromising convertibility, product properties or performance of the final product.