02 / Product layers
Explore absorbent pulp, superabsorbent polymers and absorbent nonwovens, distinguishing products from material research.
Explore companies by the region of their headquarters.
Research, public-sector sources and items without confirmed headquarters remain under All. References are not filtered.
Related stories and sources
Selected for their discussion of this layer or its materials. Product descriptions and material research are identified separately.
28 articles · 6 briefs · 4 source links
Company HQ: Confitex · New Zealand ↗
www.prnewswire.com · Product description · Company-published source
Confitex describes washable absorbent nonwoven material that does not use superabsorbent polymers. The report concerns absorbent materials and their development.
Awards do not establish measured environmental superiority.
Company HQ: BASF · Germany ↗
www.basf.com · Research facility · Company-published source
BASF announces a facility that evaluates superabsorbent polymers and diapers, including adult-incontinence applications.
A research facility includes adult-incontinence applications.
sthjj.quanzhou.gov.cn · Plant environmental approval · Public authority source
A Chinese authority approves environmental assessment for a superabsorbent-polymer production plan; planned capacity is not actual output.
Environmental approval for a production plan, not operating output.
Company HQ: Stora Enso · Finland ↗
Stora Enso · Investment plan · Company-published source
Stora Enso announced on June 17, 2026 that it would invest €19 million to increase fluff-pulp production at Skutskär, Sweden. It expects approximately 10% more capacity, bringing the mill’s fluff capacity to 440,000 tonnes a year, with completion planned for the fourth quarter of 2027.
The same announcement separately discusses closure of the L3 softwood-pulp line. That closure and the fluff investment concern different production changes. The investment timetable is a plan, not evidence of completed expansion.
Company HQ: H.B. Fuller · United States ↗
www.hbfuller.com · Supplier technology introduction · Company-published source
Full-Care 7830 Xtra was presented as a way to support short fibres in absorbent cores; adult-product adoption is not identified.
Supplier technology introduction; adult-product customer adoption is unconfirmed.
Saothair Capital Partners · Acquisition completed · Company-published source
Saothair Capital Partners announced on June 3, 2026 that it had acquired EAM from Domtar. The buyer describes EAM’s development, manufacturing and finishing of airlaid and laminated absorbent materials.
The announcement documents a change of ownership. The buyer’s descriptions of the business do not independently establish product performance, new production capacity or adoption by a named adult-care brand.
Company HQ: Corman · Italy ↗
www.edana.org · Award announcement · Organization source
The same product account describes a cotton-based absorbent core that directs liquid towards superabsorbent polymer.
An award account; it is not independent verification of environmental or clinical performance.
Company HQ: Essity · Sweden ↗
www.proteus-cbe.eu · Research and development · Organization source
The PROTEUS project describes development of seaweed-based absorbent material for hygiene applications.
Material development; not confirmed adoption in a finished adult product.
Company HQ: ZymoChem · United States ↗
www.globenewswire.com · Research and development · Company-published source
ZymoChem reports laboratory and manufacturing tests of its bio-based superabsorbent material. The reported manufacturing trial used baby diapers; adult incontinence is a proposed application.
Manufacturer-reported material tests, not finished-product performance.
Company HQ: NAGASE · Japan ↗
NAGASE · Material development
NAGASE describes a starch-derived absorbent material intended for light-incontinence pads, at the sample and joint-development stage.
See the source for its stated scope and implementation stage.
Domtar · Idling plan · Company-published source
Domtar announced on March 24, 2026 that it planned to indefinitely idle its Coosa Pines, Alabama, fluff-pulp mill in May. It cited market conditions and the costs associated with ageing equipment.
This source records the March announcement. It does not by itself verify completion of the May idling, and indefinite idling should not be relabelled as a confirmed permanent closure.
Company HQ: Suzano · Brazil ↗
Suzano Eucafluff · Company material update · Company-published source
A March 18, 2026 article on Suzano Eucafluff’s official website discusses the growth of eucalyptus fibre in the fluff market. The company’s fluff business director explains defibration and compatibility between pulp and superabsorbent polymer.
This is a short supplier-authored technical introduction for absorbent hygiene applications, not a new adult-product adoption announcement. It is separate from the previously covered Limeira capacity expansion. Claimed advantages are the supplier’s explanation, rather than independent product-test conclusions.
Company HQ: RYAM · United States ↗
RYAM · Development timetable · Company-published source
RYAM’s results presentation dated March 4, 2026 lists Odor Control Fluff as a development aimed at the adult-incontinence market. The table on page 6 sets the fourth quarter of 2026 as its target.
For supply context, RYAM’s August 5, 2025 results separately discussed tariffs, customer qualification in China and production mix. Those statements describe 2025 conditions, not today’s mix or an adult-product-only reduction.
Company HQ: CTK Bio Canada · Canada ↗
CTK Bio · Material research
CTK Bio describes a polysaccharide hydrogel under development, naming adult incontinence among possible uses.
See the source for its stated scope and implementation stage.
Company HQ: Ontex · Belgium ↗
ontex.com · Product announcement · Company-published source
Ontex describes a Y-shaped absorbent core in Sensitive Pants. This is a manufacturer product announcement.
The listed material and core features concern Sensitive Pants; do not generalise them to every product in the range.
Company HQ: Global Cellulose Fibers · United States ↗
American Industrial Partners · Acquisition completed · Company-published source
American Industrial Partners announced on January 23, 2026 that it had completed its acquisition of International Paper’s Global Cellulose Fibers business. GCF would operate as an independent company under the new ownership.
It is not a new-material launch or evidence of additional production capacity. Figures describing the business as a whole cannot be assigned exclusively to adult-incontinence products.
Company HQ: Suzano · Brazil ↗
www.suzano.com.br · Production line started · Company-published source
The flexible Brazilian line can produce Eucafluff or market pulp; the announced capacity is not a measure of actual output.
Production capacity is distinct from actual annual production and sales.
Company HQ: Unicharm · Japan ↗
Unicharm · Product description · Company-published source
Unicharm’s October 1, 2025 release describes a thin Lifree insert pad for use with adult pants, scheduled for Japanese release in early October.
The source provides a manufacturer’s explanation of structure and materials. It does not independently establish clinical effects or make absorption claims from different products or markets interchangeable.
Company HQ: Georgia-Pacific · United States ↗
Georgia-Pacific · Investment plan · Company-published source
Georgia-Pacific announced an $800 million investment at Alabama River Cellulose on September 10, 2025. Work was scheduled to begin in late 2025 and finish in 2027, expanding production of fluff and market pulp.
This follows a separate $80 million conversion announced in 2022. In a November 19, 2024 update, GP reported that the mill had produced its first fluff batch during 2024. That reported production milestone and the larger 2025 investment are different events; the later expansion’s completion is not established here.
Parent company HQ: Georgia-Pacific · United States ↗
GP Cellulose · Company material update · Company-published source
GP Cellulose’s August 12, 2025 article describes ForestLogic as part of its work to make fibre-sourcing and forest information visible. This concerns the origin of raw materials rather than a diaper’s absorption performance.
The company supplies fluff for applications including adult incontinence, but the article does not document product-by-product tracing of named adult diapers. It is a supplier’s explanation of its system, not a WDO certification of every product or of regulatory compliance.
Company HQ: Nippon Shokubai · Japan ↗
Nippon Shokubai · Construction start and plan · Company-published source
The announced addition is 50,000 tonnes a year, taking the subsidiary’s planned SAP capacity from 90,000 to 140,000 tonnes. The release schedules mechanical completion for January 2027 and commercial operation for July 2027.
The figures describe planned production capacity, not output already achieved. SAP is a material for disposable diapers, but the announcement does not allocate the expansion to adult products or identify the diaper brands it will supply.
Company HQ: Nippon Shokubai · Japan ↗
Nippon Shokubai · Supply certification · Company-published source
The release places acrylic-acid certification in April 2025 and SAP certification in May. It describes a four-region supply system using biomass-derived feedstock allocated through a mass-balance method.
Certification of this supply route does not establish a measured biobased percentage in every individual SAP particle. The company’s net-zero carbon-footprint explanation includes biogenic carbon accounting; it is not a zero-emission claim for finished diapers or their disposal.
Company HQ: Ontex · Belgium ↗
Ontex · Product description · Company-published source
Ontex announced on June 17, 2025 that it was bringing the iD Discreet incontinence range to European healthcare partners, including pharmacies, medical-supply outlets and care facilities.
The announcement extends technology already used in retail products into healthcare channels. It is not evidence that the technology had never appeared before, or independent confirmation of the company’s performance claims.
Company HQ: Yuhan-Kimberly · South Korea ↗
Yuhan-Kimberly · Product description · Company-published source
Yuhan-Kimberly’s May 9, 2025 announcement introduces replacement pads for Depend adult underwear. It describes a cotton-like feel, a three-layer absorption design and three fixing tabs.
Cotton-like feel does not mean 100% cotton composition. The release is evidence of the company’s stated material choices, rather than independent verification of medical effects or of the complete product’s environmental impact.
University of Coimbra / University of Lisbon / University of Zaragoza / IPN; Gels · Absorbent material research · Research publication
Selected samples were tested with synthetic urine and compared with SAP isolated from a commercial baby diaper. The study reports around 15 grams of synthetic-urine uptake per gram for promising formulations, with laboratory retention measurements.
The research was supported by Portugal’s FCT. It does not establish adult-diaper adoption, wearer comfort or clinical benefit. The synthetic-urine result belongs to the tested material and conditions, not the usable capacity of a finished incontinence product.
Company HQ: Unicharm · Japan ↗
Unicharm / Lifree · Product announcement
Unicharm announces a RefF tab-style adult product using recycled pulp as part of its raw materials; the full recycled-content percentage is not established.
Part of the raw materials contains recycled pulp; no overall recycled-content percentage is established.
National University of Kaohsiung / Formosa Plastics authors; ACS Omega · Material structure research · Research publication
The study uses fluorescence microscopy to investigate water movement through gaps between particles. The authors report that changing the particle mixture can alter uptake and pressure-dependent absorption in laboratory samples.
The work was funded by Formosa Plastics. It is a materials study, not a wearer trial or a finished adult-diaper launch. Measurements using water and specified pressure conditions must not be presented as practical urine capacity for a consumer product.
University of Groningen / Donghua University / Covestro-affiliated coauthors · Material research
A laboratory study examines absorbent polymers based on citric acid and glycerol. It is material research, not adoption in a finished adult diaper.
Laboratory material research, not a finished diaper. Test media and biodegradation conditions must be distinguished.
Company HQ: ZymoChem · United States ↗
ZymoChem · Ingredient scale-up · Company-published source
The announcement concerns multi-tonne production of that ingredient and preparations for further commercial runs. BAYSE is the company’s proposed alternative to conventional superabsorbent polymers used in absorbent hygiene products.
Scaling an ingredient process is different from manufacturing finished SAP or launching an adult diaper. The release does not name an adult-care brand using BAYSE, and this manufacturing milestone is separate from the performance results the company reported in 2026.
Company HQ: BASF · Germany ↗
BASF · Material offering · Company-published source
The company combines renewable energy with a biomass-balance approach at its Antwerp site in Belgium. It identifies the material as ISCC PLUS-certified and describes it as a replacement that does not require changes to diaper production lines.
The zero-footprint statement concerns the material under the company’s calculation approach. It does not mean that manufacturing, using and disposing of an entire diaper produces no emissions. The release does not name an adult-care product that has adopted this grade.
Company HQ: Klabin · Brazil ↗
Klabin · Published report · Company-published source
Klabin announced on January 6, 2025 a commissioned comparison of PineFluff’s carbon footprint. It identifies ACV Brasil as the study provider and SGS Brasil as the verifier, and describes cultivation, manufacturing and transport within the study boundary.
The comparison concerns fluff pulp delivered under specified scenarios, not finished adult diapers. WDO has not reviewed the complete underlying LCA model and therefore does not present the announced percentage differences as independently verified whole-product reductions.
Company HQ: Evonik · Germany ↗
Evonik · Business sale completed · Company-published source
The business included three German production locations and two in the United States, with around 1,000 employees. Evonik identifies the powdered polymers as absorbent materials used in diapers and other hygiene products.
The figures describe the existing business transferred in August 2024 and include diaper and other hygiene-material applications. Adult-only capacity and sales are not broken out. The release is an ownership update rather than a finished-product announcement.
Company HQ: Nippon Shokubai · Japan ↗
Nippon Shokubai · Certified material supply · Company-published source
The company uses a mass-balance approach to allocate biomass-derived raw materials to certified output. It says the products also retain Indonesian halal certification and describes supply from Belgium, Japan and Indonesia at that time.
These statements concern material sourcing and certification. They do not establish biodegradability or performance superiority for finished diapers. The release identifies disposable diapers as a SAP application without naming an adult-incontinence product using the certified material.
Company HQ: Sanyo Chemical · Japan ↗
Sanyo Chemical · Withdrawal and merger · Company-published source
The original notice set out production-stop and disposal plans for relevant subsidiaries. A later company disclosure confirms that SDP Global was absorbed into Sanyo Chemical on April 1, 2025.
The decision and subsequent corporate action belong to different dates. Production stops, equity transfers and the later merger should be followed as separate steps. The disclosures describe group restructuring and do not provide a brand-by-brand assessment of downstream diaper supply.
Company HQ: Unicharm · Japan ↗
www.unicharm.co.jp · Product update · Company-published source
Unicharm describes recycled pulp in a Lifree RefF overnight pad for care facilities.
A Japanese product version and stated service scope.
Company HQ: Sumitomo Seika · Japan ↗
Sumitomo Seika · Sales and development report · Company-published source
The report links development to control of the polymer’s internal and surface crosslinking. It separately describes further development intended to combine higher retention with absorption under load, targeting a launch in fiscal 2026.
The two stages should be distinguished: a product reported as commercially sold and a further grade still under development in the report. The reduction is the supplier’s claim, not a measured saving across all adult-diaper brands.
Company HQ: Klabin · Brazil ↗
Klabin · Published report · Company-published source
Klabin’s report covering 2025 describes fluff pulp with an odor-control function and customer qualification followed by interest from China. It also reports five commercial versions of PineFluff eXcel, a product introduced in 2022.
This is a short introduction to the company’s innovation report. It does not identify a named adult-incontinence product using the odor-control version. The exact publication day and the new version’s launch date are not established.
Company HQ: HARTMANN · Germany ↗
HARTMANN · Product description · Company-published source
HARTMANN’s pharmacy information dated February 2025 describes a change to SkinGuard absorbent cores in MoliCare pads and pants, alongside more compact packaging.
This is a short introduction to the company’s product-change notice. Company comparisons are not independent clinical evidence. Individual item codes and start dates are not reproduced where the PDF table cannot be read reliably.
Background references
EDANA
EDANA describes the role of superabsorbent polymer in absorbing and retaining liquid. It is a material reference, not a comparison of finished products.
Read the original source ↗Unicharm / Lifree
Unicharm says the absorbent paper in this RefF product contains recycled pulp. The same page describes recycled manufacturing offcuts in the package.
Read the original source ↗HARTMANN / MoliCare
HARTMANN describes a recycled cellulose absorbent core in MoliCare Bed Mat Eco. This example concerns a bed-protection product, not a wearable diaper.
Read the original source ↗Continue exploring
One article may discuss several layers. These are links to the same published article, not additional studies or evidence of environmental superiority.
