RKW HyJet® Crop Cover Nominated for EDANA’s INDEX™20 Awards

RKW at Index 2020 in Geneva, March 31,2020 – April 3, 2020, Stand 1530

Frankenthal, Germany, February 17, 2020 – RKW is one of the three nominees for the Sustainable Product Award at the EDANA Innovation Lab at this year’s INDEX^TM event in Geneva, Switzerland. Throughout the four-day nonwovens exhibition the RKW HyJet® Crop Cover will be displayed at the Innovation Lab. The new INDEX™ feature showcases how invention and sustainability drive the industry forward.

Improving crop yields is essential to supporting a growing population and to reducing resources in the growing cycle. RKW Crop Cover is designed to do just that.

RKW HyJet^® nonwoven brings benefits that stem from its loop structure of endless filaments. It provides excellent tear resistance and outstanding strength compared to traditional nonwoven crop cover alternatives. In addition, its elasticity allows an easier application and better coverage of the crop, thus saving time and labor and allowing the farmer to use one size for multifunctional applications.

Recently tested at both the textile research institute STFI in Chemnitz, Germany, and the DLR RLP institute in Schifferstadt, Germany, RKW HyJet^® showed excellent results compared to other nonwoven crop covers. In practice, field application has shown that the RKW HyJet^® crop cover is reusable multiple times.

Michael Fischer, Sales Manager at RKW’s Agri business is excited to have this new product in his portfolio when meeting with customers. “This new HyJet based crop cover is going to be very interesting for the industry which has its sights firmly set on making the right choices to support sustainable agriculture. It will not only protect harvests at the highest level from weather, wind and wild animals, but also save money and contribute significantly to sustainable farming and resource saving.”

The design of this innovative product was born from RKW’s business mission – “With sustainable film solutions, we enable our customers to improve the daily lives of consumers all over the world”. Says Dennis Timmlau, Sales Manager at RKW’s nonwoven facility in Gronau, Germany, “We took all the advantages of using our hydroentangled spunbond polypropylene nonwoven for the crop cover. Endless fibers, high bulk, excellent light transmission and air permeability, great water distribution – and the list goes on. Coupled with all of this, our nonwoven based solution comes without any reinforcement. So a real win for our farmers.” He added, “Being nominated for this prestigious award at the INDEX show is very exciting for the whole team at RKW. It just goes to show that RKW lives its business mission every day and that nonwoven is an essential element in providing winning solutions for a sustainable world.”

Meet the RKW team at INDEX 2020: Stand 1530

The RKW Group

The RKW Group is an independent, privately owned company headquartered in Frankenthal, Germany and one of the world’s foremost manufacturers of excellent film solutions. RKW is the market leader in the areas of hygiene and agricultural films, films for the beverage industry and packaging for powdery goods. In addition, the company makes films and nonwovens for medical applications, for the chemical and converting industries as well as for the construction sector. RKW’s sustainable films enable its customers to improve the daily life of consumers all over the world.

In the fiscal year 2018, RKW generated total sales of EUR 878 million. About 3,000 employees process 367,000 tons of plastic materials at 20 locations around the world. True to the corporate slogan “When excellence matters”, the company, which was founded in 1957, offers outstanding performance in terms of quality and service. Respect and reliability are the core values of RKW and form the basis of the company’s success.