What are the new environmental indicators for PP spunbond non-woven fabric？

September 23, 2026

From 2025 to 2026, multiple new mandatory standards and regulatory requirements have been introduced for the environmental indicators of PP spunbond nonwoven fabrics in China. The core dimensions have been comprehensively tightened, and the specific details are as follows:

1、 New regulations on production emissions and energy consumption

The VOCs emission limits have been significantly tightened: The "Emission Standards for Pollutants in the Non woven Fabric Industry (GB 40842-2025)", which will be fully implemented on January 1, 2026, will tighten the VOCs emission limits for spunbond processes to 30mg/m ³, a 40% decrease from the old standards. At the same time, six new monitoring requirements for characteristic pollutants will be added, and companies without online monitoring equipment will face high penalties.
Mandatory control of energy consumption and carbon emissions: The Implementation Plan for Green and Low Carbon Development of Textile Industry (2025-2030) clearly requires that the comprehensive energy consumption per unit output of PP non-woven fabric enterprises above designated size shall not exceed 42.6 kilograms of standard coal/ton by the end of 2025, and further reduce to 41.2 kilograms of standard coal/ton by 2026; New projects must provide a full lifecycle carbon emission report, and the carbon emission intensity per unit product must not exceed 2.1 tons of CO ₂ e/ton of fiber.
Mandatory requirement for the utilization rate of recycled materials: Starting from 2026, a new medical grade PP non-woven fabric production line will be built, and the proportion of recycled polypropylene (rPP) used shall not be less than 15%. The industry's target for the utilization rate of recycled materials by 2026 will be increased to 10.5%. Enterprises that meet the requirements can enjoy a policy bonus of 85% VAT refund upon collection.

2、 New standards for product safety and performance

Medical grade special mandatory threshold: The "Polypropylene Spunbond Nonwoven Fabric for Medical Protection" (GB/T 45123-2025) released in 2025 specifies for the first time that the residual amount of ethylene oxide is ≤ 5.0 μ g/g, the bacterial filtration efficiency BFE is ≥ 99.2%, and the thermal shrinkage rate ≤ 3.5% (120 ℃ × 10min) is listed as a mandatory inspection item for medical grade products leaving the factory.
Special limit values for infant and child scenarios: The "Safety Technical Specification for Non woven Fabrics Used in Infant Diapers" (GB/T 43287-2025) has added a limit of ≤ 0.05mg/kg for residual acrolein and ≤ 0.8 for skin irritation index, filling the environmental protection index gap for personal care products.
Food contact compliance upgrade: The updated GB 4806.7-2023 standard in 2023 requires that the total migration amount of PP non-woven fabric used in food contact should be ≤ 10mg/dm ², the total migration amount of aromatic primary amines should not be detected, and the migration amount of formaldehyde should be ≤ 15mg/kg, which is the core entry threshold for food packaging products.

3、 New compliance requirements for export end

Starting from September 2025, medical non-woven fabrics exported to the European Union must be required to complete REACH Annex XVII, Item 72 filing and provide testing reports for 17 restricted substances such as nonylphenol and phthalates. Products that do not meet the standards will be directly returned by customs.
The latest international standard ISO 24269:2026, released in August 2026, adds mandatory testing requirements for environmental indicators such as free formaldehyde, specific azo dyes, and heavy metals in non-woven fabrics used for ordinary civilian face masks, further raising the entry threshold for global civilian protective products.