How TENCEL™ Inventions Are Reducing Fashion’s Impact
Since TENCEL™’s launch 30 years ago, the fiber brand has prioritized providing solutions for the fashion industry’s needs. Today, companies’ challenges largely revolve around sustainability—including climate change, water consumption, chemicals and material use. As Caroline Ledl, head of product management at Lenzing, explained, TENCEL™ fibers have a reduced carbon footprint and are manufactured using a closed-loop system that recycles water and chemicals. She spoke to Sourcing Journal about some of Lenzing’s latest material developments and sustainability moves.
Sourcing Journal: Lenzing is investing in sustainable innovation, and one of your recent endeavors is carbon-zero TENCEL™. What is next for these fibers, and is there a point at which all TENCEL™ produced will be carbon neutral?
Caroline Ledl: In early 2022, we opened the largest lyocell production plant in Thailand where we plan to start producing carbon-zero TENCEL™ Lyocell. This shows our commitment to our carbon reduction strategy and carbon-zero products. The plant is using 100 percent green energy for the production of TENCEL™ Lyocell, and we will be able to reduce the footprint of the carbon-zero fibers further. Looking ahead to the future, we clearly envision having only carbon-zero TENCEL™ fibers; to achieve this we are on a path of reducing our emissions and are working with our suppliers to also reduce their footprints. Our TENCEL™ Lyocell with REFIBRA™ technology has
been available as a carbon-neutral fiber since end of 2021. We are very excited to be able to combine two of the key trends with circularity and carbon emission reduction.
Read the full Q&A in Sourcing Journal’s Material Innovations report.