Non woven fabric is a new type of environmentally friendly material, also known as non-woven fabric. It has the characteristics of moisture resistance, breathability, flexibility, lightweight, non combustible, easy to decompose, non-toxic and non irritating, rich color, low price, and recyclability. It is a non-woven fabric formed by directly using high polymer slices, short fibers, or long filaments to form a web through airflow or machinery, and then reinforcing it through water needling, needle punching, or hot rolling, and then finishing it afterwards.
In recent years, the growth rate of global demand for non-woven fabrics has always been higher than the growth of the global economy. The global production of non-woven fabrics is mainly concentrated in the United States, accounting for 41% of the world's total, Western Europe accounting for 30%, Japan accounting for 8%, China accounting for 3.5%, and other regions accounting for 17.5%. In the terminal application of non-woven fabrics, sanitary absorbent products (especially diapers) are growing rapidly, and the markets for medical textiles, automotive textiles, footwear, and artificial leather are also showing a new trend of rapid development.
The non-woven fabric industry in China started relatively late, but has developed rapidly. In the early 1980s, the production was less than 10000 tons. In the mid to late 1990s, China saw a surge in the development of non-woven fabric products. In addition to using domestic production lines, provinces such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Hunan have also introduced production lines from abroad. The development speed of non-woven fabric products in China has greatly exceeded the average development speed of the textile industry, with an annual growth rate of 8-10%, making it a rapidly developing industry in the textile industry. Because China's non-woven fabric industry has become increasingly high-end, many enterprises and products have strong competitiveness internationally. Through years of exploration and development, Chinese non-woven fabric enterprises have embarked on their own unique path.
Gao Man, a researcher in the non-woven fabric industry at Forward looking Industry Research Institute, pointed out that in the coming period, China's non-woven fabric industry should focus on adjusting its variety structure, improving its level, and transforming towards diversification, serialization, specialization, and high-performance. It is expected that in the next decade, the demand for non-woven fabrics in various application industries will decrease
Continuous improvement, refinement, functionalization, and industrialization will become the direction of technological research and development for non-woven fabrics.