The role of non-wovens as technical textiles in the fight against the coronavirus-10/4

By: Vasco Lagarto
Created: 23 May 2020 - 10:05
Updated: 25 May 2020 - 06:05

The role of non-wovens as technical textiles in the fight against the coronavirus

Advance textiles and what can they do to help in this covid-19 crises, identifying also the European capacities to overcome the needs of the health workers at the hospitals and other critical places.

3 speakers were invited for today’s session.

Marco Manfroni, DG GROW.

  • It is in contact with the textile industry along two lines: i-to increase EU production of raw materials to produce face masks and ii-to convert textile production lines to towards the production of medical or protection equipment. One of the actions implemented was the mapping of companies capable of producing this type of products. Was also used a matchmaking tool to exchange information and identifying the producers of raw material or the provision of certification services (to be sure that the masks comply with the issued and adequate certifications). One issue is also to make more flexible the regulatory framework and to implement some finance initiatives to speed up the fight against covid.

Jacques Prigneaux, Edana (international association of nonwovens and related industry).

  • This association has all the value and supply chains…a presentation of the production process of masks was made as well as the identification of bottlenecks/solutions.
  • Attention was raised to the waste management and the recycle of the masks.

Dolores Pla, Cluster MAV-Advanced textils for MediTech Industry

  • The presentation showed different perspectives: by material, process, application and functionalities…and the mask as a challenge. Different masks were presents for different uses and spec.
  • Short identifications of some innovations in material textils, and also the ecosystem and its interconnections.

How should the masks be used? A clarification about the type of masks according with the activity should be done…

How can the demand be satisfied? What to do with used masks in order to avoid contamination? How to implement a recycle mechanism? Need to know the more about the mechanism of the flow to understand better what textiles can do to increase protection.

Who can provide masks?

Create a marketplace to align the needs of the health system with the production capacities.

Reusable masks can be a solution to overcome the high expected demand…that can be done with new materials. However, the national authorities among Europe are to slow to accept new “things” in this area…maybe at European level we could move things in order to speed up the process.

A clear communication strategy is necessary in order to avoid the false sensation of security and clear rules to use masks in certain places/activities, according with the level of protection neded.

Check the previous meetings and discover the next sessions.

https://www.clustercollaboration.eu/forum/european-alliance-against-coronavirus-daily-meetings/european-alliance