The Lenzing Group is expanding its environmental leadership commitment. As a leader in wood-based cellulosic fibres, the Austria-based company is continuing its ambitious roadmap towards sustainability in textile and nonwovens industries, by investing more than €100 million in sustainable manufacturing technologies and production facilities until 2022.

"The textile and the nonwoven industries face fundamental challenges related to sustainability," said Stefan Doboczky, chief executive officer of  Lenzing. 

“Lenzing is passionate to take a leadership role in addressing this and making the world a better place. Our holistic approach to sustainability underpins this scope. The new eco-investment programme is a major step forward in our ambitions.”

A major part of this recent investment will focus on closed loop production technologies for the expansion of the sulfur recovery systems. The second area of investment will be in improving the effluent treatment units, said Lenzing.

In addition, the manufacturer will upgrade its energy usage to more sustainable solutions reducing its greenhouse gas emissions due to the construction of a gas boiler at its site in China. This investment looks to strengthen the company's  sustainability at its Viscose facility in Nanjing.

Overall, the changes come in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which Lenzing has been using as guiding principles for its sustainability agenda. One of the most significant SDGs for the company is SDG 12: Responsible production and consumption, said Lenzing chief commercial officer, Robert van de Kerkhof.

“The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are a universal call for a sustainable economy that protects the planet and ensures prosperity and well-being for all people," said van de Kerkhof.

"With our Refibra technology, Lenzing is innovating to support a more circular, bio-based economy, contributing in particular to SDG 12.”

With the Lenzing Group sustainability targets announced in 2018, Lenzing strives to upgrade all its production sites to the ambitious European Ecolabel standard by 2022.