The Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA), in collaboration with Nonwovens Industry magazine, is accepting nominations for the 2027 IDEA Achievement Awards. The triennial awards recognize innovations, technical advancements, and leadership across the nonwovens and engineered materials industry.
Presented every three years alongside IDEA, the awards honor developments introduced since IDEA 25. Winners of the 2027 awards will be announced during IDEA27, scheduled for 23-25 March 2027, at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Industry professionals are invited to submit their company’s innovative products, materials, equipment, and sustainability advancements, or nominate innovations on behalf of clients, for consideration. Categories for the 2027 awards include raw materials, recognizing the best new raw materials introduction; nonwoven product, for the best new nonwoven fabric introduction; short-life, for the best new short-life product introduction; long-life, for the best new durable product introduction; equipment, for the best new equipment introduction; and sustainability advancement, recognizing sustainability and circularity advancements in raw materials, nonwoven fabrics, processes and equipment, and end-use products.
Finalists in each category will be selected by INDA’s Technical Advisory Board, with the top three entries in each category advancing to the final round. Industry professionals will then vote for winners through the Nonwovens Industry website. The Entrepreneur Award recipient will be selected exclusively by Nonwovens Industry magazine. The submission deadline for entries is 8 November 2026.
Winners of the 2025 IDEA Achievement Awards included Dilo Systems for its MicroPunch in the equipment category; Woolchemy NZ for neweFibre in raw materials; Egal Pads for Pads on a Roll in short-life product; Magnera for its Sontara EcoRE Bag in long-life product; Kindcloth for its Kindcloth Pura Health insect repellent water dissolvable wipes in sustainability advancement; Innovatec Microfibre Technology for its Innovawipe water soluble nonwoven in nonwoven product; and Dude Products, which received the Entrepreneur Award.
IDEA27 will feature hundreds of exhibitors showcasing nonwoven and fiber technology innovations. The RISE Conference will be held in conjunction with IDEA27, featuring scalable, demonstrated solutions addressing technical challenges in sustainability, circularity, healthcare, energy, and advanced manufacturing. IDEA27 attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in expert-led nonwoven short courses designed to expand industry knowledge and technical expertise.
