Sustainability Spotlight: How Lenzing Group is Addressing ESG
On Carved in Blue, we often write about how Lenzing is working to shape a more sustainable denim industry. But at a corporate level, there is much more we are doing to address the health of our planet. Here are a few ways that the group is supporting environmental efforts.
Biodiversity is the Bees Knees
Bees play a crucial role in pollinating crops that provide food for many species—including humans. They are critical for biodiversity and keeping ecosystems in balance, but their population is declining due to land use changes, pesticides, invasive species, disease and climate change. Lenzing is funding the Austrian Federal Forests’ (Österreichische Bundesforste, ÖBf) work to restore bee numbers by creating habitats for them at the edges of forests in the Austrian towns Reindlmühl, Steinbach am Attersee and Frauschereck. The initiative cultivates plants that can serve as food for the bees, including fruit trees and shrubs including pear, apple, blackthorn, trembling poplar, wild rose, hazelnut, walnut, willow, rowan and more. Flowering shrubs feed bees in summer and birds in the fall.
ÖBf is our wood supplier, and this project is just one of our collaborative projects to support nature. “Sustainably managed forests are the basis of Lenzing`s supply chain and essential for our future,” said Lenzing Group sustainability expert Nenad Šimunović, who coordinated the project with ÖBf. “The measures contribute to our community and planet and support several sustainability goals. As many of our customers, investors and other stakeholders are interested in the sustainability of our supply chain, this project is even more important as it provides us with a practical example of how Lenzing lives its strategy and makes better choices.”
In addition to this initiative with ÖBf, Lenzing’s LD Cellulose site in Brazil supports beekepers in the Triangulo Mineiro region and rural São Paulo, allowing them to keep their bee boxes in parts of its forests. Currently, there are about 4,000 boxes in the forests that yield 50 tons of honey annually. This has multiple benefits, including higher incomes for honey farmers, bigger bee populations and a healthier local environment.
Fibers On Ice
Glaciers are under threat as the planet warms. One of the methods of slowing down the melting of the ice is covering them with geotextiles. Although effective, these are often made of synthetic fibers, which leach microplastics into the environment that can harm life and ecosystems. A potential answer for this issue? Wood-based fibers. In 2022, Lenzing worked with the Institute of Ecology at the University of Innsbruck, Austrian glacier tourism and the Chamber of Commerce (WKO Tirol) on a test project that covered small areas with geotextiles made of Lenzing fibers. After promising results, we are expanding the test area to 2 hectares in 2023.
“The deployment of LENZING™ fiber-based geotextiles on touristic glacier spots to reduce loss of ice mass may be considered a small step only,” said Berndt Köll, emerging business development NW at Lenzing. “ However, each measure in order to reduce the amount of plastic microparts released into our environment is important. Many more actions need to follow.”
Wastewater Treatment Technology
Lenzing’s producton site in Grimsby in the United Kingdom is investing in water treatment. The factory will construct a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant, which will have cutting-edge filtration technology. With this project, Lenzing aims to be ready to meet the more stringent guidelines for water emissions through 2027, outlined in the European Union’s Best Available Techniques (BAT) reference document (BREF) on wastewater.
The project is rolling out in two phases. The first phase will include construction and commission of the plant, focusing on the most critical elements of the BREF to ensure the facility is prepared to comply. Using successfully tested membrane filter and nano filtration technologies, Lenzing Grimsby intends to treat roughly 2,000 square meters of effluent each day. Designed to run round-the-clock, the plant features automation, allowing for more efficiency, accuracy and consistency and reducing the need for human intervention. A main control room will feature all relevant data, allowing for centralized monitoring and real-time adjustments to parameters if needed.
The next stage intends to begin pre-treating some effluent streams, closing any remaining gaps in compliance with the EU BREF. The modular plant design allows for capacity expansion in the future to respond to any other regulations. Lenzing Grimsby is also considering the potential for water reuse, which would reduce consumption and lowering the environmental impact of production.