“Receiving this prestigious award is source of strong motivation to keep developing and manufacturing clean technologies to address existing pollution issues. HeiQ is eager to keep innovating sustainable textile effects, contributing to a reduced environmental footprint of mankind,” said Carlo Centonze, CEO at HeiQ Materials.

The Oilguard fabric is an oil-absorbing, water-repelling nonwoven product, to act as a proactive beach protection in cases of offshore oil spills.

Further Information on http://www.muensterland-wirtschaft.de/

The Oilguard fabric is an oil-absorbing, water-repelling, nonwoven product to act as a proactive beach protection in cases of offshore oil spills.

The EEP Award

The EEP Award, an annual price, is organised every year by the European Environmental Press (EEP) in collaboration with Pollutec, the leading French environmental trade show, with the support of he EFAEP, the European Federation of Associations of Environmental Professionals. The purpose of the EEP Award is to recognise the efforts of those European companies that are improving the environment with their innovative environmental technologies.

The Jury

The EEP Award Jury meets every autumn to choose ten nominees out of the total amount entries of the different European countries. This European Jury consists of all EEP members and representatives of EFAEP.

Further Information on http://www.eep.org

Basel, 4. November 2010 – The Swiss Innovation Forum today awarded HeiQ Materials AG the Swiss Technology Award in the category Maturity Stage. The Forum gave as reason for its choice of company the development of Oilguard, the non woven fabric which protects coastal areas and beaches from oil spills.
Oilguard is a product which was co-developed in record time by HeiQ Materials AG, Beyond Surface Technologies AG (both Swiss) and TWE (Germany), when the Deep-water Horizon catastrophe occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in April.

The Swiss Technology Award has been honouring the best and most innovative companies in Switzerland for already more than twenty years and is awarded in three categories: Seed, Start-up and Maturity Stage. This year’s three winners beat 85 competitors.
The Swiss Technology Forum gave as reason for its choice of winner that the oil absorbent and water repellent fabric was developed for coastal and beach protection in record time and that it is today the only available technology for preventing oil contamination of coastal areas and beaches.

“We are, of course, very proud that our company has won such a great award with our co-developed product, Oilguard. This is really motivating for us to continue investing in innova-tions,” explained Carlo Centonze, CEO of HeiQ. The company has its headquarters in the Solvay industrial park in Bad Zurzach and was established in 2005 as an ETH spin off. Inves-tor from the start was the Zürcher Kantonalbank.

“The award proves that when expertise is pooled it can lead to exceptional results. I am par-ticularly pleased that our product, with its clear environmental protection and sustainability focus, has won such an award,” said Matthias Fößel, CEO of Beyond Surface Technologies AG in Pratteln.
Oilguard is, meanwhile, well known throughout the world. This week TWE also gained a new partner in Korea – Saehen Hitech Ltd. Here the product will be used to make an important contribution to beach and coastal protection with an average of 180 oil spills per year in South Korea alone.
Further information on the Swiss Technology Award 2010 on: www.swiss-innovation.com/media, www.swiss-innovation.com/fotos, www.swiss-innnovation.com/video and www.swisstechnology-award.ch .

Further information on Oilskill and the Oilguard Alliance on: www.oilguard.org .

If you have any further questions about this press release please contact us:

Impact Consult
Barbara Schädler
Neusser Straße 314a
50733 Cologne
Tel : +49 221 7680 2554
Mobile : +49 170 819 5674
E-mail: barbara.schaedler@impact-consult.info

About HeiQ:
HeiQ Materials AG is a Swiss high-tech company researching, developing and manufacturing sustainable textile effects for the most demanding customer areas. Focusing on textile and medical markets, the company seeks to build nature-inspired innovation into products, making them naturally performing. HeiQ’s products are characte-rized by high efficiency coupled with long-lasting performance, yet with a minimum impact on the environment. HeiQ is a fast-growing internationally active company, with a palette of award winning state-of-the-art textile ef-fects technologies like Pure by HeiQ® and Barrier by HeiQ®.
www.heiqmaterials.com , www.heiq.com

About TWE:
The TWE GROUP is one of the world’s leading producer of nonwovens. Developing and
making its mark in this field for decades, TWE is able to offer customers new products and
ideas based on a large set of different technologies. Being an international group of companies, each manufactur-ing site concentrates on specific technologies offering centers of excellence. Since TWE only uses quality raw materials and state of the art production processes leading global companies have long decided to rely on “Made by the TWE” quality label. www.twe.de

About Beyond Surface Technologies:
Beyond Surface Technologies AG (BST) is a globally working company with headquarters in Switzerland. BST is researching, developing and manufacturing high-quality effects based on sustainable technologies for textile sur-faces. Therefore the company has created a global network of partner companies, technology providers and tex-tile experts that offers a unique research and development know-how for sustainable textile special effects. http://www.beyondst.com

PRESS RELEASE Oilguard – winner of Swiss Technology Awards 2010 – English edition

PRESS RELEASE Oilguard gewinnt Swiss technology awards 2010 – Deutsche Version

PRESS RELEASE Oilguard gagner Swiss technology awards 2010 – en francais

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has successfully tested the Oilskill-nonwoven fabrics for shore, beach and coastprotection against oil-contamination

Emsdetten, Germany 20th September 2010 – The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has successfully completed their tests of the nonwoven fabric Oilskill which is de- signed specifically for the protection of beaches and coastlines in the event of an oil spill. Oilskill is found to be environementally friendly. Oilskill can now be safely rolled out onto the coasts and beaches in the US, wherever oil contaminated waters exist. In the US, no further testing is required.

In the coming weeks additional tests will be carried out in Korea, India and other countries bordering the Gulf of Mexico. India has recently suffered from large quantities of old oil being washed onto the beaches of Goa, and this just before October, the high season for tourism. Oilskill is now available as the technology which can prevent the contamination of coasts and beaches, even in the event of a major oil spill and is capable of protecting many kilometres of beach.

Oilskill is a non-woven fabrics that absorbes oil in large quantities and is at the same time water repellant. It was jointly developed by the companies TWE, HeiQ Materials AG and Beyond Surface Technologies AG. Meanwhile, the product has been developed further so that it can also be used for cleaning oil-contaminated animals and contaminated ships and rocks.

According to the coastguard of Louisiana and Mississippi, there is currently no comparable product, world-wide that can prevent a contamination of banks, beaches and coasts for many miles successfully. Oislkill is one of about 300 products from 120 000 proposals, which is incorporated in the BP database to combat oil spills.

Further information on Oilskill and the Oilguard Alliance can be found at www.oilguard.org For enquiries on the Oilskill fabric please contact:

Impact Consult Barbara Schädler Neusser Straße 314a 50733 Köln Tel : +49 221 7680 2554 Mobile : +49 170 829 5674 E-mail : barbara.schaedler@impact-consult.info

About HeiQ:

HeiQ Materials AG is a Swiss high-tech company researching, developing and manufactur- ing sustainable textile effects for the most demanding customer areas. Focusing on both tex- tile and medical markets, the company seeks to build nature-inspired innovation into prod- ucts, making them naturally performing. HeiQ’s products are characterized by high efficiency coupled with long-lasting performance, yet with a minimum impact on the environment. HeiQ is a fast-growing internationally active company, with a palette of award winning state-of-the- art textile effects technologies like Pure by HeiQ® and Barrier by HeiQ®. www.heiqmaterials.com , www.heiq.com

About TWE:

The TWE GROUP is one of the world’s leading producer of non-wovens. Developing and making its mark in this field for decades, TWE is able to offer customers new products and ideas based on a large set of different technologies. Being an international group of compa- nies, each manufacturing site concentrates on specific technologies offering centres of excel- lence. Since TWE only uses quality raw materials and state of the art production processes leading global companies have long decided to rely on “Made by the TWE” quality label. www.twe.de

About Beyond Surface Technologies:

Beyond Surface Technologies AG (BST) is a globally working company with headquarters in Switzerland. BST is researching, developing and manufacturing high-quality effects based on sustainable technologies for textile surfaces. Thererfore the company has created a global network of partner companies, technology providers and textile experts that offers a unique research and development know-how for sutainable textile special effects. www.beyondst.com

PRESS RELEASE Oilskill 20 September 2010 EN

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has tested Oilskill fleece for the shore, beach and coastal oil spills at successfully

Emsdetten 20 September 2010 – The U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has the fleece to the shore, beach and coastal protection for oil spills, Oilskill, successfully tested and found to be environmentally friendly. Oilskill can thus be safely on the shores, coasts and beaches used in the U.S., whenever there is oil con-polluted waters. In the U.S., for no further tests are needed more.

In the coming weeks, additional tests will be held with the fleece in Korea, India and other countries bordering the Gulf of Mexico. In India, large quantities of modified waste oil onto the beaches of Goa have been washed up – just before the be-ginning in October, high season for tourists. Oilskill now stands there as the technology avail-able, can prevent the pollution of the beaches, even with large quantities of oil and over many kilometers of beach.

Oilskill is a fleece, the oil in large quantities and is absorbed quickly and simultaneously repels water. It was initially developed for the shore, beach and coastal jointly by the companies TWE, HeiQ Materials and Technologies, Beyond Surface. Meanwhile, the product was developed further so that it also be used for cleaning oil-contaminated animals and contaminated ships and rocks can.

According to the coastline of Louisiana and Mississippi, there is currently no comparable product, world-wide with a Kontamiation of banks, beaches and coasts for many miles away can be successfully prevented. Oislkill is one of about 300 products from 120 000 proposals, which is incorporated in the BP database for combating of oil spills.

For more information about Oilskill and OilGuard Alliance , visit www.oilguard.org.

If you have questions about Oilskillnonwovens have, please contact us at:

Impact Consult Barbara Schaedler Neusser Strasse 314a 50733 Cologne

Tel: +49 221 7680 2554 Mobile: +49 170 819 5674 Email: @ impact-barbara.schaedler consult.info

about TWE: The TWE GROUP is a leading manufacturer of nonwoven fabrics. Through decades of development work and involvement in this sector can TWE customers new products and offer its ideas to a wide repertoire of technologies based on. As an international group of companies focused on the different production sites on specific technologies, which are centers of excellence created. Leading global companies rely on for a long time on the quality label “Made by TWE” because they know that TWE quality materials and advanced manufacturing processes used exclusively. www.twe.de

on HeiQ Materials: The HeiQ Materials AG is a Swiss high-tech companies, sustainable textile effects for the most demanding customer requirements, researched it, developed and manufactured. Specializes in the markets for textile and medical applications, the company is committed, the nature-inspired innovations in products installed from, so they naturally work on. HeiQ products are characterized by high efficiency, coupled with long life and minimal environmental impact. HeiQ is a fast growing, international company with a range of prices-sen-winning modern textile technologies such as Pure Effect by HeiQ ® and Barrier by HeiQ ®. www.heiqmaterials.com , www.heiq.com

about Beyond Surface Technologies: Beyond Surface Technologies (BST) is a world-wide company with headquarters in Switzerland. BST researches, develops and manufactures with high-quality effects for textile surfaces – based and focus on sustainable development of technologies. BST has for a global network of partner companies, Techno logieanbietern and experts set up textile, which is a unique and develop-ment know-how for sustainable textile research offers special effects.

www.beyondst.com

PRESS RELEASE 20th Oilskill September 2010

US Coast Guard and BP have approved German-Swiss nonwoven fabric technology Oilskill

• BP have included Oilskill in their product database for beach and coastal protection when dealing with oil spills
• US Coast Guard have confirmed Oilskill’s potential in fighting oil contamination

Bad Zurzach and Pratteln (Switzerland) and Emsdetten (Germany), 2nd September 2010 – The BP Alternative Response Technology Team in Houston, USA, have ap-proved Oilskill, the new nonwoven fabric which absorbs oil and repels water, for in-clusion in their Product, Service and Equipment Database. Oilskill is one of the few technolgies for coast and beach protection which BP have now selected for use in dealing with oil disasters throughout the world.

In addition, the US Coast Guard, Department for Homeland Security, has confirmed that in their view, Oilskill has the potential to effectively fight against oil contamination.

From the BP Product Service and Equipment Database, employees can select approved technologies to combat the results of oil pollution.The Database is a direct consequence of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the technologies included are the result of an intensive selection process. From 129,000 submitted proposals only a three-digit number have been approved by BP. Oilskill is therefore now available to BP employees in the event of future investment in beach and coastal protection.As well as the US national Coast Guard, the state coastal protection agencies of Mississippi and Louisiana have shown interest in Oilskill. In their assessment, Oilskill clearly has out-standing and unique features: Oilskill is, in the view of the Coast Guard, the only currently available technology which can prevent the large-scale contamination of beach and coastal areas.

The companies behind Oilskill, TWE, HeiQ und Beyond ST, developed the fabric specifically for coastal and beach protection. The tests carried out in the Gulf of Mexico have proved that the fabric delivers exactly what it promises: Oilskill absorbs all types of oil washed onto coasts during an oil spill, i.e., crude oil, chemically dispersed oil and small clumps of tar.

The three companies have further developed this new technology so that it can be applied in more ways than just coastal protection. Oilskill products are now available for the cleaning of contaminated birds and animals and also for the cleaning of boats and rocks. Oilskill hoses for use on the water and Oilskill sandbags will also shortly be available to further assist with coastal clean-up operations.

Further information on Oilskill or the Oilguard-Alliance can be found at www.oilguard.org

For enquiries on the Oilskill fabric please contact:

Impact Consult
Barbara Schädler
Neusser Straße 314a
50733 Köln
Tel : +49 221 7680 2554
Mobile : +49 170 819 5674
E-mail : barbara.schaedler@impact-consult.info

About HeiQ:

HeiQ Materials AG is a Swiss high-tech company researching, developing and manufactur-ing sustainable textile effects for the most demanding customer areas. Focusing on both tex-tile and medical markets, the company seeks to build nature-inspired innovation into prod-ucts, making them naturally performing. HeiQ’s products are characterized by high efficiency coupled with long-lasting performance, yet with a minimum impact on the environment. HeiQ is a fast-growing internationally active company, with a palette of award winning state-of-the-art textile effects technologies like Pure by HeiQ® and Barrier by HeiQ®.

www.heiqmaterials.com , www.heiq.com

About TWE:

The TWE GROUP is one of the world’s leading producer of non-wovens. Developing and making its mark in this field for decades, TWE is able to offer customers new products and ideas based on a large set of different technologies. Being an international group of compa-nies, each manufacturing site concentrates on specific technologies offering centres of excel-lence. Since TWE only uses quality raw materials and state of the art production processes leading global companies have long decided to rely on “Made by the TWE” quality label. www.twe.de

About Beyond Surface Technologies:

Beyond Surface Technologies AG is a Swiss based company that has created a global net-work of partner companies, technology providers and textile experts. BST is researching, developing and producing a unique range of quality effects based on sustainable technolo-gies for textile surfaces. http://www.beyondst.com

Weitere Informationen zu Oilguard erhalten Sie unter www.oilguard.org.

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