**1. Introduction**

Jute fibre is one of the best fibres grown majorly in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and China. The British introduced jute processing in India and Bangladesh. Initially, jute processing was made through flax machinery and found unsuitable. This forced the development of jute processing machinery, which was developed in Dundee, Scotland, and then the processing started in that country. Later the industry started in Bengal and India by the East India Company in the year 1856. Those days, jute fibre was imported from these Asian countries and products were developed in Europe (Dundee, Scotland). With the development and diversification of jute products from its conventional jute sacks as packaging material and carpet backing, the jute

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nonwoven products are developed. These jute fibres are comparatively coarse in nature and have wide variation in fineness apart from its mesh-like structure. Its high moisture regain also places its suitability in certain applications. These properties make it more popular in the development of needle-punched nonwoven rather than the other nonwoven like thermal bonded and adhesive bonded nonwoven structures. Apart from these properties, the jute fibre is one of the cheapest natural fibre available commercially in countable amount.

Jute includes good insulating and antistatic properties, as well as having low thermal conduc‐ tivity and a moderate moisture regain. It includes acoustic insulating properties and are manufacture with no skin irritations. Jute has the ability to be blended with other fibres, both synthetic and natural and accepts cellulosic dye classes such as natural, basic, vat, sulphur, reactive, and pigment dyes. Jute can also be blended with wool. By treating jute with caustic soda, crimp, softness, pliability, and appearance are improved, aiding in its ability to be spun with wool. Liquid ammonia has a similar effect on jute, as well as the added characteristic of improving flame resistance when treated with flame proofing agents.

Jute has a long history of use in the sackings, carpets, wrapping fabrics (cotton bale), and construction fabric manufacturing industry. However, the major breakthrough came when the automobile, pulp and paper, and the furniture and bedding industries started to use jute and its allied fibres with their nonwoven and composite technology to manufacture nonwovens, technical textiles, composite production of sheet moulding compound, resin transfer mould‐ ing, vacuum pressing techniques, and injection. In this chapter, the emphasis has been made on the design and development of jute-needle-punched nonwoven and their characterization in specific applications. Also, different important applications of jute and jute-based needle punched nonwovens have been covered.
