Lenzing Partners with Mills for Mechanically Recycled TENCEL™
At Lenzing, we are constantly aiming to push the needle in circularity, and we’re excited to see how our downstream partners are accelerating efforts in material reuse.
Recently, a few of our mill customers—Artistic Milliners in Pakistan, Canatiba in Brazil and Textil Santanderina in Spain—have created processes to mechanically recycle TENCEL™ branded lyocell fibers into new jeans. This creates a circular stream for pre-consumer lyocell waste that occurs naturally in the production process, reusing the fibers at a commercial scale.
To expand on this circular concept, Lenzing is partnering with the mills to launch the first phase of our Fiber Recycling Initiative. “Brands and consumers count on us to lead the change towards a more sustainable industry value chain,” said Tuncay Kiliçkan, head of global business development, denim, at Lenzing. “As we constantly seek ways to improve circularity across various components of the textile industry, our like-minded, decades-long value chain partners have innovatively discovered the mechanical recycling of TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers in denim production. While such concept is still relatively new to the wider industry, the development of the Fiber Recycling Initiative by TENCEL™ sets out to promote the benefits and unleash the full potential of the new circular fabric.”
Mechanically recycled cotton has become a more frequently used fiber in denim production, but it has its limitations. The shredding process creates fibers that are shorter in length than virgin cotton. Because of this, they need to be blended with other fibers such as virgin cotton or TENCEL™ to improve strength and textile quality.
Mills have had success with mechanically recycled TENCEL™ due to some of its fiber properties.
“The mechanically recycled TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers are ideal for denim,” said the product development team at Canatiba. “Unlike cotton, the new fabric retains its characteristics in relation to virgin fiber, while maintaining the length, resistance and all the physical properties, as well as being super soft to touch. It comes from a completely clean and sustainable process that does not involve water or chemical consumption. In Brazil, mechanically recycled lyocell fibers have a strong potential to scale among large brands and department stores.”
In addition to sustainability and quality benefits, mechanically recycled TENCEL™ can also help mills in creating on-trend looks.
“Denim circularity is undeniably the present, and the inevitable future of denim,” said Baber Sultan, director of research, product and trend at Artistic Milliners. “We have seen wider adaptation of mechanical recycling beyond textiles, particularly in paper and construction industries. Considering the high tenacity of TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers, there is an edge to increase recycled content while producing higher quality fabrics. The new fabric has so much potential across global markets, especially with the nostalgia around Y2K and other vintage looks. The classic salt-and-pepper effect really blooms with mechanically recycled TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers, along with that neppy denim aesthetics.”
Even in its original state, TENCEL™ Lyocell is a low-impact choice. The wood-based fibers are manufactured in a closed-loop production process that recycles over 99 percent of the solvents used. They are also soft and breathable with a smooth drape.
For further piece of mind, TENCEL™ fibers are traceable through the TextileGenesis blockchain platform.
“We believe that the future of the textile industry depends on sustainability and circularity, which can also guarantee the survival of denim,” said José Antonio Mazorra, corporate social responsibility manager at Textil Santanderina. “The awareness of reducing environmental impact within our sector is growing, especially with the industry trends of circular economy and sustainable production practices. I expect that innovation and technological improvements around circularity, including phases of collection, selection and recycling, will result in a greater need for mechanically recycled cellulosic fibers.”