Our Technical Textiles Division serves specialised markets such as the flooring industry, synthetic grass, the horticultural market, civil engineering, building and industrial applications on a global scale.

Extrusion, spinning, fleecing, weaving and coating are core technologies of this Division.

The business operates from 14 manufacturing facilities, 3 in Belgium (Zele, Lokeren and Ostend), 2 in The Netherlands (Arnhem and Emmen), 3 in Germany (Obernburg, Hückelhoven, Fulda), 1 in Scotland (Dundee), 1 in Hungary (Tiszaújváros), 1 in Czech Republic (Lomnice), 1 in North America (Asheville, NC), 1 in Yizheng - China (60% owned) and one in Abu Dhabi, UAE (75% owned). Regional sales offices are located all over the world.

Fabrics

This part of the Division specialises in the production of a number of product ranges including geotextiles, agrotextiles, technical industrial, textiles and fibres for the industrial and building sectors.

The customer base for our Fabrics business is worldwide. Our products find their way into prestigious building projects such as Disney Park in Hong Kong, the Palm complex in Dubai through to applications closer to home such as industrial greenhouses in Holland.

The main raw material used is polypropylene but aluminium, polyester and polyethylene are also used in some finished products.

Yarns

Our yarns business specialises in the manufacturing of carpet backing yarns for the woven carpet industry and artificial grass yarns for the sports surface and landscape industries worldwide.

Bonar has established itself as a world force in artificial grass yarns. The enhanced product range ensures Monofilament, Hybrid and Fibrillated yarns are available to meet the specific needs of the end user. Our obsession with producing only the best quality yarns means we can provide a yarn suitable for a specific purpose - be it soccer or hockey, tennis or landscape.

Our Dundee based business has also over 30 years experience in the manufacturing and supply of a range of high specification polypropylene yarns for use in woven Axminster and Wilton carpets.

2008 will see us build a new manufacturing plant in the Abu Dhabi Polymers Park to complement our existing facilities in Europe. Production is expected to start in 2009.

Colbond

Acquired at the end of July 2006, Colbond is a leading producer and supplier of high-quality synthetic nonwovens for flooring, automotive and construction applications and of three-dimensional polymeric mats and composites for civil engineering, building and industrial applications.

The company’s production facilities are based in Emmen and Arnhem (NL), Obernburg (D), and Asheville (NC, USA). Regional sales offices are located all over the world.

Colbond brings the Division high quality product development capabilities with a Development & Application Centre in Arnhem (NL) and a Development Laboratory in Asheville (NC, North America) to initiate and carry out development projects.

Mehler Texnologies

MTX, a leading vertically-integrated technical coated fabrics producer, was acquired in January 2008. It operates across the key processes in fabric production, from the weaving of the technical base fabric to its specialist coating with PVC and other polymers.

It is currently equipped to coat fabrics at locations in Hückelhoven and Fulda in Germany and in Lomnice in the Czech Republic and weaves the majority of the requisite base fabric at its two weaving mills in Lomnice and Fulda.

Through its coating operations, MTX transforms woven fabrics to offer premium materials that are designed to be durable, flexible, waterproof, UV resistant, breathable and printable and applicable to a wide variety of uses, including side curtains for lorry trailers, advertising banners, tensioned roofs, awnings, marquees and tarpaulins.