In an effort to limit unnecessary exposure to flame retardants, California Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law a bill that requires manufacturers of upholstered furniture to indicate if the product contains added flame-retardant chemicals. The new standard will become law on Jan. 1—the same time full compliance is required for a new flammability standard [...]

The world’s first collapsible fabric storage tank standard was released by the Canadian Standards Association in July 2014. There was previously no credible reference document detailing the minimum requirements for the use of collapsible bladder fuel storage tanks or pillow tanks. This new standard provides information to ensure the use of collapsible fuel bladder tanks [...]

The range of electric vehicles needs improvement, with “energy guzzlers” such as air conditioning and interior heating systems operating from the power supply. Scientists at the Hohenstein Institute in Germany are studying heat transfer in car seats to create a model of the processes involved and implement it in the design of improved seating. The [...]

The German Development Ministry has launched the Textiles Alliance, a coalition of companies and organizations dedicated to improving social and environmental standards in the textiles and garment industry. Spearheaded by Gerd Müller, German development minister, in concert with a working group of 70 representatives, the “Fairness Alliance” will work to bring about concrete improvements in [...]

According to an announcement in Energy Harvesting Journal, the U.S. solar market has grown by more than 10 times in the past four years. Wunder, a Boulder, Colo., Techstars company, has launched a first-of-its-kind solar fund that makes investing in solar projects easy, provides a 7 percent annual return and supports a clean, renewable power [...]

Bayer MaterialScience AG, the global health care, agriculture and high-tech polymer material company headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany, is making $3.2 million worth of medications available to U.S. aid organization Direct Relief to treat Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. Bayer has already donated $32,000 in medicine and monetary donations to Caritas Internationalis, an [...]

Fisher Textiles, Indian Trail, N.C., is now an authorized distributor for the brand HEYTex in North America. Fisher, a leading supplier of fabrics for digital printing, fully stocks and distributes all digitex® sign materials. Environmentally friendly and recyclable, digitex is one of the most comprehensive portfolios of PVC-free products available on the market. Fisher offers [...]

NILIT, an Israeli manufacturer of nylon 6.6 for thermoplastics and apparel applications, has signed an agreement to acquire INVISTA’s Americana, Brazil, manufacturing site. NILIT plans to continue nylon 6.6 operations there, increasing DTY capacity and reinforcing its local presence. The acquisition will enable NILIT to expand in South America, Brazil in particular, where the company [...]