Austria's Lenzing expands carbon-neutral fibre portfolio

Lenzing Group, a leading global producer of wood-based specialty fibres, showcased its new carbon-neutral Lenzing FR fibre offering for the protective wear segment at Techtextil Frankfurt. The Austrian company demonstrated its new offering through its collaboration with long-term partner Textil Santanderina, a Spanish textile company.

Lenzing also showcased how carbon-zero Tencel branded fibres launched in 2020 could be used in the workwear segment through collaboration with another valued partner, European fabric manufacturer Klopman. The two partnerships mark an important milestone as Lenzing takes an active role in providing eco-friendly alternatives for manufacturers in various segments, collaborating with leading industry partners to find new solutions and redefine sustainability standards, the company said in a press release.

Due to increasing environmental awareness across all industries, organisations across both private and public sectors are looking to become more sustainable, opening a new playing field for innovative eco-friendly products. As such, Lenzing has created the carbon-neutral Lenzing FR fibres that are made using a sustainable cellulosic solution for the protective wear segments. In addition to the benefit of reduced carbon footprint, these fibres also offer supply chain transparency as part of Lenzing’s fibre identification technology. This technology enables full traceability of the fibre and protects products from counterfeiting.

 “Sustainability is becoming a key driver in the workwear and protective wear segments,” said Oliver Spöcker, director of protective wear and workwear, Lenzing AG. “The future success of workwear and protective wear lies in a combination of performance, comfort and sustainability. At Lenzing, we are committed to providing solutions that enable our customers to meet the increasing standards for supply chain transparency and carbon emission reductions.”

For more than 30 years, Lenzing has partnered closely with Textil Santanderina, a Spanish textile company that has an extensive product range, from cotton classics to the latest innovative offering. The company is now incorporating the newly launched carbon-neutral Lenzing FR fibres into its protective wear offerings.

“Sustainability is becoming a global priority. In some cases, it is even more than a priority, it is an obligation. We are constantly working on new ways of developing and producing textile products with sustainability at its core,” said Angel Parés, TECHS manager for Textil Santanderina. “We are proud of being the first company worldwide to work with carbon-neutral Lenzing FR fibres and we would like to thank Lenzing for the opportunity.”

Lenzing first partnered with Klopman more than a decade ago to replace cotton with Tencel Lyocell fibres. The company then moved forward to another step by using Tencel fibres with REFIBRA technology two years ago. Klopman are now building on this partnership by becoming the first company in the workwear segment to incorporate carbon-zero Tencel fibres. The collaboration represents a growing demand for sustainability in workwear, on top of performance and functionality.

“We are extremely proud of our partnership with Lenzing and the significant growth we’ve seen over the last ten years. By offering carbon-zero Tencel fibres in all our collections, we are enabling companies to actively reduce their carbon footprint and align with the updated guidelines for sustainable textile products from governments in the EU,” said Amaury Sartorius, managing director at Klopman. “There is no other option for the future of our planet than investing all our efforts in saving resources, reusing materials, and optimising production.”

As transparency requirements and carbon reduction targets on textile products become the norm globally, Lenzing will continue to develop innovative and sustainable solutions which address the needs of industry partners, customers and the environment.