AGROTECH -		agriculture, horticulture, forestry and fishing
			Applications for technical textiles in the Agrotech sector include all activities concerned with the growing and harvesting of crops and animals. The principal function of most agricultural textiles relates to the protection of either food produce, animals or land. End-uses range from crop production (cereals, cotton, tobacco, etc), through forestry and horticulture (fruits, vegetables, trees and flowers), to animal and poultry rearing and fishing.
	BUILDTECH -		building and construction textiles
			In addition to replacing and complementing traditional materials in fixed structures, technical textiles have permitted the development of new and more cost effective temporary and semi-permanent structures. Textiles are increasing their market share in construction and architectural applications, where their mechanical properties are equal, or often superior, to traditional materials. They offer desired characteristics such as lightness, strength and resilience as well as resistance to many factors such as deformation, creep, degradation by chemicals and pollutants in the air, rain or other construction materials, as well as the effects of sunlight and acid.
	CLOTHTECH -		technical components for the clothing and footwear industry
			The Clothtech sector covers those textile products which represent functional (and largely hidden) components of clothing and footwear such as interlinings, sewing thread, insulating fibrefill and waddings. The level of component sophistication is steadily increasing, mostly driven by new, ‘high performance’ garment fabrics, but also by the development of better performing products by fibrefill companies.
	GEOTECH -		geotextiles and civil engineering textiles
			Geotextiles are defined as all woven, nonwoven and knitted textile materials used mainly by the civil engineering industry to provide a range of functions such as support, drainage and separation at or below ground level. Geotextiles are used in a wide range of applications including the construction of buildings, bridges, dams, roads, railways and paths as well as embankments, cuttings, dykes and sub-sea coastal engineering projects.
	HOMETECH -		technical components for furniture, interior textiles and floor coverings
			Technical textiles and nonwovens play an essential role in the construction of many household textiles, furnishings and floor coverings for both domestic consumption and for contract end uses (e.g. in hotels, hospitals, offices and restaurants). Applications include carpet backings, curtain tapes, and fibrefill for products such as pillows, duvets and cushions, as well as linings, waddings and bases for furniture and mattresses.
	INDUTECH -		filtration and other industrial applications
			Technical textiles keep the wheels of industry turning in many different ways, separating and purifying industrial products, cleaning gases and effluents, transporting materials between processes, carrying them through and turning machines, absorbing dirt and oil, and acting as substrates for abrasive sheets and other coated products. Indutech is an extremely diverse application sector in terms of products, functions and end-uses ranging from lightweight nonwoven filters, knitted nets and brushes to heavyweight coated conveyor belting.
	MEDTECH -		medical and hygiene textiles
			The scope of Medtech embraces all those textile materials used in health and hygiene applications in both consumer and medical markets. As such it comprises a well-defined band of products with considerable variations in terms of product performance and hence in unit value. Because of the nature of their application, many medical products are disposable (or ‘single use’) items with nonwovens accounting for a high proportion of the sector overall in terms of tonnes of fibre used.
	MOBILTECH -		transportation textiles
			Mobiltech embraces all those textile materials and products used in the construction, equipment and furnishing of all means of passenger and goods transportation, civil and military, by land, sea and air.
	OEKOTECH -		environment protection
			There are environmental, ecological and safety issues connected with the use of almost all technical textiles, starting with their immediate areas of application and their direct impact upon the use of energy and water, prevention of injury or illness, the levels of waste, pollution and noise, etc. These issues extend to the lifecycle of the textiles themselves including their production and their disposal or recycling after their useful period of service has been completed.
	PACKTECH -		industrial and consumer packaging
			Packaging is an ideal and long established application for textiles. The Packtech application area includes all textiles used for the temporary containment, carriage, storage and protection of industrial, agricultural and other goods. It ranges from relatively heavyweight woven fabrics used for bags, sacks, FIBCs, wrappings for textile bales and carpets etc. to lightweight nonwovens used as durable papers, bags for tea and coffee as well as other food and industrial product wrappings.
	PROTECH -		textiles for personal and property protection
			Protech encompasses all those textile materials and products used in the production of protective clothing of various types. The term 'protective clothing' covers garments and accessories intended to protect people against the elements, dangerous or hazardous materials, processes or events encountered either during the course of their work or during leisure activities. It also encompasses garments intended to protect products, the workplace or environment against people (as in the case of clean room garments), as well as people against people (as in the case of security and defence applications).
	SPORTTECH -		textiles for sporting and leisure applications
			Increasing worldwide interest and participation in active sports and outdoor leisure pursuits have resulted in strong historical growth in the consumption of textile materials in sporting and related goods and equipment, particularly in the form of synthetic fibres and coatings which have largely replaced traditional cotton fabrics and other natural fibres. The continuing pursuit of even higher standards of end-user safety and performance is now stimulating the use of higher priced, branded speciality fibres and other materials, supported by product promotion on a global basis, designed to pull demand through into the mass market for sports and other related applications.
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