439 Year Old Company Piana Technology Brings Legacy Into the Future as CES 2022 Innovation Awards Honoree

E/SMART™ Fiber technology debuts at virtual CES activation with intent: make foam obsolete

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Jan 03, 2022, 10:04 ET

CARTERSVILLE, Ga., Jan. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Piana Technology, the 439-year-old textile company known for innovation within the fiber and nonwoven textiles markets, today announced that it has been named a CES® 2022 Innovation Awards Honoree. The Innovation Award honors the outstanding design and engineering of E/SMART™ – a high-performance nonwoven fiber technology that surpasses the qualities of polyurethane foam while reducing its negative impacts. Piana will debut this technology at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show, its first year in attendance, through their virtual activation experience.

E/SMART™ offers uncommon integration of digital wellness and product sustainability. Its recyclable and nontoxic fibers are vertically-lapped to provide even pressure point distribution, unprecedented airflow, and antiviral capabilities that outperform those of conventional materials. Even at its reduced weight, it boasts superior compressional and thermal resistance for extensive applications. Flexible integrated pressure sensors within E/SMART™ can enable healthy posture and sleep quality through personalization of the products. We are developing this technology to act as a diagnostic tool in hospital settings. Combined with digitally-printed molecules, it can adapt to wide consumer requests for a user-friendly experience. At its end of life, it can be 100% reclaimed and molded for endless customer possibilities.

Replacing the 1.3 million metric tons of annually landfilled PU foam with E/SMART™ would eliminate over 4 million metric tons of CO2 each year, leading to reduced impact on quality of life, health, productivity and slowed environmental decline. CEO Andrea Piana sees E/SMART™ as an opportunity to change the way we approach sustainability.

"The modern world is reliant on materials of the past. If we want to maximize our human potential, we must develop new technologies that adapt alongside us," said Andrea Piana. " With E/SMART™, we've built a tech platform for the circular economy with renewable materials that can be upgraded as technology improves—without waste—for endless applications. Along the way, we can make foam obsolete."

Piana Technology began in 1582 in Biella, Italy. In 1995, Andrea Piana became CEO, ushering in an eco-friendly era for the company and opening their first U.S. factory in Cartersville, Georgia before developing SaveDrop Technology and expanding into nonwovens. Today, Piana's innovative technologies are used in B2B settings to power Fortune 500 companies in product categories including sleep, furniture, transportation, lifestyle, medical, and in-flight.

The recognition of E/SMART™'s capabilities as a CES 2022 Innovation Award Honoree comes as Piana Technology prepares to launch direct-to-consumer products. E/SMART™'s moldability, recyclability, and adaptability tied with intuitive molecular technology will lead us one step closer to a user-driven circular economy. As the market searches for zero waste solutions away from traditional habits, Piana Technology will lead us into the future.

Experience the world of Piana Technology at CES 2022 by visiting piana.tech/ces.

About Piana Technology:

The Piana family's roots began in the textile business in 1582 in Biella, Italy before evolving to develop novel solutions in its industry, starting with traditional textile dyeing in 1950 and the opening of their first American factory in Cartersville, Georgia in 1995. Today, Piana Technology is a multinational company tackling common problems with uncommon solutions with nonwovens, digital printing, and fiber treatments. Piana makes the hidden technology behind many everyday consumer products—from automotive to home furnishings—replacing conventional materials with socially and environmentally responsible technologies.

Contact: Rachel Johnston, [email protected]

SOURCE Piana Technology