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Is Abena Really Discontinuing Plastic Backings on ALL Of Their Products?

    Recently, there has been a lot of talk on incontinence related sites about all of the manufacturers who have done away with the plastic backings (referred to in the industry as “PE” for polyethylene) backings on their products and going to the new cloth like backings for everything.  To read more about the cloth like vs. the plastic backing issues, please see our article “Paper or Plastic” that was published last year.

    The most recent company to consider this option is Abena.  Many know that years ago, they introduced their “Air-Plus range with the cloth like backing.  After much lobbying from the incontinence industry here in North America, Abena decided to continue with their range with the plastic (PE) backing AS WELL AS the Air-Plus range.  Both ranges sell very well with the plastic backed range selling better here in North America.

    Recently, many sites have started rumors that the plastic backed Abena products are going away entirely.  There are even some companies who have used this rumor as a marketing pitch!  Here at the Incontinence Resource Center, we try to report on FACT.  While we may not always be FIRST with a story, we try to be ACCURATE with a story.  Was the conversion to ALL cloth like backings a thought by Abena?  Yes!  Has it become definite yet?  NO!  Please read this letter from Abena posted with permission from our sponsor XP Medical and UNDERSTAND what is going on.  XP Medical has been huge in lobbying for the plastic backed products to stay on the market for us!

Dear all.

Normally I/we would have contacted you differently concerning updates on what the future will be for M4 + L4 in the Comfort range but since Christmas is coming within a few hours here in Denmark, I decided to quickly give you some feedback on what will happen to the above products as this is important for us all.

Based on the concerns you had on the consequences of especially moving M4 + L4 from PE and all the way to Premium (M4 + L4 will not be in the Comfort TBS range) it was this morning decided to put this project on hold for North America, so you will also after the 1st of February be able to purchase M4 + L4 in PE. As these two products accounts for a very large volume of our sales in the US, we will over the next 6 month have to find/decide on what the final assortment for the US/Canada should be. Having 4 ranges in our assortment (Delta TBS (future) Comfort PE, Comfort TBS and Premium) is not ideal.

As for the rest of Comfort PE range, we will not discontinue right now, but I still expect that we will not continue with the whole range for a long period. I hope to have more on this in the beginning of January.

I hope this helps and comforts many of the users out there. It has never been in our interest not to supply what users wants, but we still want to influence if we can. In the next month we will have to look further into the disadvantages of TBS/Premium from the point of end-users in North America, as we have not had any negative feedback from other markets. Our goal would be eventually to supply similar products to all markets. Will not be easy but maybe by working closer together on this project we might succeed ?

From us here in Denmark, we wish you all a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Med venlig hilsen / Best regards

Abena International A/S

   As you can see in this letter, Abena is considering continuing with the plastic (PE) backing at LEAST in the X-Plus (M4 and L4) product range for those of us here in North America.  There have been companies pushing people to switch to their products because of this.  Well, if everyone leaves Abena products, then this just becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, as Abena will DEFINITELY move to all cloth backings if their plastic backed products are no longer selling because people quit buying it.  If you like the plastic backed products, keep buying them!  If you prefer another company’s diaper, then by all means, buy it.  BUT, DON’T let marketing hype or the “rumor mill” pull you away from a good product that you are comfortable with.

    Just wanted to quell some of the “rumor mongering” and fear that seems to be in the marketplace.  As I said before, we will always deal in FACT here, so if that’s what you’re looking for, please come back often and also drop by our support forum to talk with others about incontinence, products and ways to cope!

Sincerely,

Brian D. Carter - Site Owner and one of the Moderators