Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, announced today it has become a member of the Sustainable Minds Industry Sponsor Program. Sustainable Minds is the global leader in cloud-based Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) software that enables companies in a wide range of industries to design greener products. The goal of this relationship is to enable manufacturers across the nonwovens value chain to credibly, efficiently and cost-effectively evaluate the environmental performance of nonwovens to design innovative greener products. The Sustainable Minds nonwovens solution will include a continually expanding dataset, example products, knowledge sharing, training and a platform for showcasing greener materials and products, their uses and applications.
The first offering, the expanded nonwovens lifecycle dataset, will be available in Version 3.0 of Sustainable Minds software due for release in May 2013. The 3.0 Release will include publicly available data for materials and processes and focus initially on several product categories. On an ongoing basis, to expand these and to add new categories, SM will create new data through its Custom Data Creation Program and publish existing data provided by nonwoven manufacturers and other industry sources.
To facilitate the rapid adoption of this solution, SM will be offering nonwovens manufacturers discounted access to the software. Additionally, SM has teamed with nonwovens industry experts Chapas & Chinai Associates to provide expert nonwovens benchmarking and innovation services.
"We have had a dialogue with Sustainable Minds for some time. Unlike other LCA software providers, they recognize the importance of expanding the nonwovens dataset for use by manufacturers globally," says Dave Rousse, INDA President. "Designing greener products is becoming increasingly important in all industries. It is critical for raw material suppliers, roll goods suppliers, end product and process equipment manufacturers within the nonwoven industry to keep up with this trend to develop and showcase their products' environmental performance. Operating with sustainable principles can also save costs. This relationship is yet another example of INDA's commitment to advancing nonwovens globally by providing members access to the information and tools to better plan and execute their product development and sustainability strategy," says Rousse.
"The nonwoven fabrics industry is growing worldwide and with the push for developing greener products, there is demand for knowledge and data from companies in other industries as well. To develop a unique solution for this industry with INDA, allows us to provide the marketplace with best in class industry expertise. This relationship aligns with our mission to help companies drive revenue and growth through greener product innovation," says Terry Swack, CEO Sustainable Minds. "At the start, this will help companies speed up the development process by giving them a dynamic tool to rapidly evaluate, compare and improve their products' environmental performance".
"As part of INDA's Sustainability Committee, we identified Sustainable Minds as the resource who can provide us customized data for the nonwovens industry. We are pleased to be working with INDA and Sustainable Minds to help members achieve leadership in developing more sustainable solutions", says Rich Chapas, Principal, Chapas, Chinai and Associates.
