[ Technical Textiles - Taiwan.]

Karin Schmidt,technical manager of the Textile Machinery Association under the VDMA (German Mechanical Engineering Association), speaks about the German textile machinery industry ...

Symposium showcases latest trends in technical textiles

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The 2009 International Technical Textiles Symposium kicked off yesterday with local industry businessmen and experts who shared the latest technologies, trends and products with their counterparts from Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, the United States, and Denmark. In the area of technical textile machines, Schmidt said she foresees an increase in German exports to Taiwan in the future. She added that nowadays the effect of textile production on the environment is also an important matter to consider.

“Concrete and steel are now being replaced with technical textiles, and cars and airplanes are becoming lighter and lighter to reduce fuel consumption, so technical textiles will become more important,” she said.

Another speaker, Roland Wein, director of the German Trade Office Taipei (AHK), discussed renewable energies in Germany, with a particular focus on wind and solar power.

According to the AHK, markets for green technologies are emerging in Taiwan as local companies are adjusting to European regulations and looking for new technologies for environment friendly products.

Raoul Kubitschek, AHK science and technology officer, introduced the 'econet Taiwan' service platform aimed at promoting cooperation between German and Taiwanese companies in the building, energy, and environmental sectors.

Andreas Gursh, from the Environmental Protection and Encouragement Agency (EPEA) Internationale Umweltforschung, shed light on the concept of “cradle to cradle design.” Inspired by nature, the concept equates waste with food.

Gursh noted biodegradable buttons, zippers, labels, medical applications, as well as clothing items such as socks, underwear, shirts, and blouses among those innovations that comply with the concept.

According to the EPEA, “cradle to cradle” is the antidote to the “cradle to grave” paradigm, whereby products are put out of sight in landfills after their useful life.

Guest speakers for today's sessions include Menno Goedhart, representative of the Netherlands Trade and Investment Office, who will discuss opportunities of textile technology cooperation between Taiwan and Netherlands. TTRI's Chiu Lien-hua will talk about the local industry's research and development efforts in medical textiles.

Other participating companies include Dupont Applied Biosciences, Robatech, Ems-Griltech, Vestech Taiwan Corporation, and Dow Chemical Company.