#
News
Home News Industrial & Institutional Wipes Report

Industrial & Institutional Wipes Report

  • November 11, 2021

The last year and a half has put wipes, especially disinfecting wipes, in the forefront, as consumers, businesses, institutions and other facilities clamored for them at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic to keep surfaces sanitized. Now that the dust has settled as we near the end of 2021, and the supply of wipes has opened up, it’s no surprise that demand has begun to level off.


“In 2020, a lot of facilities and businesses were stocking up on wipes, especially disinfecting wipes, and I think the fear of running out was driving a lot of that,” says Laura Mahecha, industry manager at Kline. “Because they stocked up a lot last year, there’s been some flatness in the market because (companies) are still using the stockpiles that they amassed last year. But, with kids going back to school, people going back to work, and with the delta variant of Covid-19, plus regular cold and flu season, I think there is upswing potential in wipes for surfaces and hands going into the fall.”


Wipes have surely become more ubiquitous over the last year and a half. They’re not only being used by cleaning staff at facilities; they’re being made available in public areas for consumer use, like hand sanitizers have been, Mahecha explains. “Office buildings now have wipes that can be used to wipe down the buttons on an elevator, or in a hotel lobby they now have wipes; wipes are in places where they were really never stocked before.”


PDI, a manufacturer of wipes that specializes in infection prevention, expects cleaning practices and behaviors that were so ingrained in everyone during the height of the pandemic, to remain a high importance as variants emerge and we move into this year’s flu season.


“Surface and hand disinfection are two of the easiest practices we can control to help reduce the spread of viral and bacterial pathogens,” says Ben Dolcimascolo, PDI director of marketing, Environment of Care. “Unsurprisingly, the frequency in which people disinfected both surfaces and hands during the pandemic drastically increased. Across all industries, surface and hand disinfection was at the core of the enhanced safety precautions put in place. Most public establishments including food stores, shopping malls and restaurants tried to do their part in reducing the spread of Covid-19 by supplying customers with disinfectant and hand hygiene products at entrances. Hospitals also put new enhanced disinfection policies in place, increasing how often they disinfected surfaces and making sure the products they used were effective against SARS-CoV-2.”


Jenny Turner, marketing director for Industry for Essity’s professional hygiene business, which makes wipers under the Tork brand, says the I&I wipes market has been put under demand pressure through the Covid pandemic, steering more surface cleaning and hygiene through reinforced protocols at end users. “The demands have been even stronger in hygiene, disinfection, sanitizing wiper solutions securing employee safety,” she adds. “This boosted trend should continue with newly established standards of cleaning, to a lesser degree than the 2020 peak, but still on a high long-term growth path.”


In 2021, data from the Smithers report The Future of Global Nonwoven Wipes to 2025, project total global demand for industrial wipes will reach 411,100 tons, and a sales value of $3.95 billion. Future growth is forecast at 6% by value to 2025. This will push the market value to just over $5 billion, with 539,700 tonnes of nonwovens consumed.


The market is sub-divided into general purpose, healthcare, food service and specialty wipes. The latter are principally cleanroom and automotive/metal surface preparation wipes. General purpose wipes are the largest segment, accounting for 67% of the market by volume in 2021. The other three segments are reasonably evenly split food-service wipes (12%), healthcare (10%), and specialty wipes (11%); but all will see above average growth in demand through the first half of this decade, according to Smithers.


“Covid-19 has driven elevated cleaning and disinfecting protocols globally; but already in 2021 some return to pre-Covid practices is occurring,” says Phil Mango, a consultant specializing in nonwovens for Smithers. “This appears to be more prevalent in the consumer cleaning and disinfecting wipe category, but it is expected in industrial and institutional markets as well. Our forecasts are for elevated demand for several years, but at only slightly higher than historical growth rates.”


According to Mango, the various market segments that fall under I&I wipes each have different drivers for growth. The largest segment, general purpose industrial wipes, will benefit from first a recovery from Covid-19 and pent up demand. Also, he adds, the large infrastructure packages being instituted in various regions will, intentionally, spur economic recovery and that will require more general purpose wipes.


Meanwhile, the healthcare industrial wipes segment has maintained growth throughout Covid and will continue to thrive as elective surgeries and other procedures, which were deferred due to Covid, are re-scheduled, he says. “Additionally, many of these wipes are used for cleaning and disinfecting and there will be residual enhanced cleaning procedures post-Covid requiring these wipes. Growth will not be at the 2019-20 rate, but will be higher than historical rates.”


The specialty industrial wipes segment, especially the clean room wipes segment, will benefit from increased activity in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors. Meltblown and spunlace are the major nonwovens used here and the forecast excess capacity of meltblown nonwovens, featured in Smithers’ forthcoming market report, The Future of Meltblown Nonwovens to 2026, should result in reduced price and expanded use here.


“Finally,” Mango continues, “the hardest hit segment, food service wipes, will see some growth from the worse days of Covid, but globally this segment may be the slowest to full recovery as many restaurants and dining options have permanently closed. Still, some growth is expected as tourism and educational venues re-open fully.”


I&I Innovations

With enhanced cleaning practices elevating the status of wipes during the pandemic, manufacturers are capitalizing on growth in the category by launching differentiated products to the market.


Earlier this year, Gojo Industries, the makers of Purell hand sanitizing products, made its first entry into surface wipes with the launch of Purell Professional Surface Disinfecting Wipes and Purell Foodservice Surface Sanitizing Wipes. The new offering builds upon the Purell brand’s successful entry into surface products that originated with its Purell Sanitizing and Disinfecting Sprays in 2016, according to Matt Witten, Total Solutions senior manager—Surface Wipes, Gojo Industries, Inc.


The brand, which has had a line of hand sanitizing wipes for more than a decade, knew that it could provide a low toxicity surface wipe that would hold up to the high standards of the Purell brand and become part of the “Purell Solution” including both hand and surface hygiene solutions.


“These wipes help end-users disinfect their surfaces in an easy and efficient way. Pairing these products that make life better with an incredibly important and growing market felt like a perfect, long-term fit,” Witten says.


Purell Surface Wipes quickly eliminate 99.9% of bacteria and viruses of concern, including cold and flu, norovirus, strep, Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, whooping cough, MRSA, and VRE. They also kill the virus that causes Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) in only 30 seconds. Additionally, the wipes have earned the EPA’s lowest allowable toxicity rating (Category IV), meaning they don’t require gloves, handwashing or rinsing after use – even on food-contact surfaces.


The wipes are designed to be used in a variety of professional and foodservice settings where frequent and fast disinfection of hard surfaces is needed, including schools, offices, restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, and health and fitness facilities.


Gojo is optimistic about growth in the surface wipes category. “Consumers and businesses are becoming more and more aware of the bacteria and viruses in their environment and are looking for easy ways to clean and disinfect,” Witten says. “Wipes allow users to disinfect effectively but quickly and are perfect for high traffic areas. As hospitals, restaurants, schools, gyms and just about everywhere continue to look for ways to disinfect the surfaces that matter most, wipes will be an important part of the solution.”


In other new product news, Kimberly-Clark Professional (KCP) recently entered the pre-moistened surface disinfection wipes category, borrowing technologies from its consumer baby wipes business and knowledge of the dry wipers market. Scott 24 Hour Sanitizing Wipes are the first wipes on the market to maintain surface sanitization for a full 24 hours, killing 99.9% of bacteria, even after multiple touches.


“The knowledge of the criticality of baby wipes – which includes a deep understanding of regulated products and how they can impact health and wellbeing – was a significant advantage for the team behind Scott 24,” says Julia Georgoff, general manager of NA Wipers & Home Pro Business, Kimberly-Clark Corporation. “It drove our understanding on quality manufacturing processes, product safety and regulated product environments. KCP has also gained substantial knowledge in this journey by referencing our WetTask line of products – which allow end user customers to pair our substrates with their own chemicals. This product family added to our understanding of how our substrates respond to various formulations.”


From a raw materials perspective, KCP developed the liquid formulation completely internally, and in the development process, the company tested the formulation with both KC developed substrates and externally-sourced substrates. The solution is delivered via KCP’s own meltblown-based wipe treated with its own proprietary blend of chemistry that minimizes quat binding.


Scott 24 Hour Sanitizing Wipes, which recently received the World of Wipes (WOW) Innovation Award from INDA, are ideal for easily wiping surfaces and helping to continuously protect high-touch surfaces such as door handles, elevator buttons, keypads, keyboards, countertops, airplane armrests, gym equipment, school desks, etc.


“These wipes offer a convenience and ease of use that makes them an ideal way to quickly and easily deliver a long-lasting antimicrobial formulation to a wide variety of surfaces,” Georgoff says. “Given the versatility of the wipe and the broad need for cleaning applications, we view Scott 24 as a viable solution across markets. Since our we launched the product, we have seen success in segments that have reopened, while others like office buildings, have not fully returned yet. As additional segments steadily reopen, we expect to see further market penetration.”


Since January, PDI has launched two product line extensions, both of which resulted from customer input and feedback: Sani-Cloth Bleach Clinical Size Wipes, a new wipe size ideal for disinfecting small high-touch surfaces and shared medical equipment; and Super Sani Cloth Wipes Softpack, an easy-to-use, portable design that contains approximately 80% less plastic than PDI’s traditional canister format, helping to reduce the overall waste footprint.


In addition to new products, PDI continually looks to introduce package enhancements which make the product more convenient for end users. In August, PDI introduced a new Dual Access Lid, which is being introduced on all Sani-Cloth canisters. The lid is designed to improve the convenience of disinfecting wipes for faster and easier access.


According to PDI, today’s fast-paced healthcare environment demands quicker and easier access to disinfecting wipes in order to maintain infection prevention protocols, but too often canister lids slow users down. The narrow lid opening can make it difficult to dispense wipes and the cap can be difficult to close so it’s frequently left open, leading to wipes drying out.


The wide opening of the Dual Access Lid ensures users pull the appropriate number of wipes for the job, allowing them to dispense one wipe for small surfaces or multiple wipes for larger surfaces. The flip cap is designed with “Snap & Close” technology to snap securely in place with just one tap, providing better moisture protection.


Looking Ahead

While overall wipes sales are still higher than they were pre-Covid, the question remains whether the cleaning habits formed during the ongoing pandemic will remain long-term.


Covid-19 has driven elevated cleaning and disinfecting protocols globally, but Mango of Smithers notes that already in 2021 some return to pre-Covid practices is occurring. “This appears to be more prevalent in the consumer cleaning and disinfecting wipe category, but it is expected in industrial and institutional markets as well,” he continues. Smithers’ forecasts are for elevated demand for several years, but at only slightly higher than historical growth rates.


Dolcimascolo of PDI says demand has remained very strong throughout the pandemic, and while they are seeing some leveling off, usage still remains higher than pre-pandemic levels. “Covid-19 has put a spotlight on infection prevention and the importance of surface disinfection, not only in healthcare but also community environments,” he adds. “The general public is much more aware of the cleanliness of the environment surrounding them and stronger habits have been formed. While we anticipate there to be some leveling out over time, a strong foundation has been set for the future.”


Awareness around disinfecting has been growing for some time, and the Covid-19 pandemic has simply accelerated it, adds Witten of Gojo. “We think there will continue to be requirements for standard cleaning practices across a number of industries – but we also think more and more institutions are recognizing the value in demonstrating their commitment to safety and cleanliness to their patrons, above and beyond baseline requirements.”


Despite market demand in the pandemic environment being volatile, Georgoff of KCP says they expect that a fundamental change in people’s elevated standards and expectations for cleaning will continue indefinitely, as will an increased demand for cleaning services sparked by the pandemic.


“We have all naturally been very focused on Covid, but there are many other viruses and bacteria that we focused on for cleaning and sanitization needs pre-pandemic – and that will continue to focus on post-pandemic,” she says. “One great example are bacteria such as E. coli and MRSA, against which Scott 24 provides 24-hour sanitization. These are still of urgent relevance and concern globally as triggers for infection and illness.”

Copyright © 2024 Nanan Jiedao Electronic Material Co.,Ltd.. All Rights Reserved. Powered by

IPv6 network supported

top

Leave A Message

Leave A Message

    If you are interested in our products and want to know more details,please leave a message here,we will reply you as soon as we can.

  • #
  • #
  • #