Lenzing’s Latest Circular Collaboration Furthers Fabric Recycling

Lenzing’s Latest Circular Collaboration Furthers Fabric Recycling

From left, Jürgen Secklehner of ARAplus GmbH; Sonja Zak, head of textile sourcing & cooperations, Lenzing; and Martin Prieler of ARA

The number one factor in creating a more circular fashion system is collaboration. It is a multi-step process to collect waste, sort it and feed it into production, and individual companies do not have the infrastructure or expertise to do it all.

In its latest move to boost circularity, Lenzing Group is partnering with nonprofit textile sorting and logistics firm ARA (Altstoff Recycling Austria AG), textile rental firm Salesianer Miettex, textile collector and sorter Caritas, and pulp producer Södra on a pilot program to transform consumers’ used textiles and garments into new lyocell and viscose. This collaboration will be the largest textile recycling project to-date in Austria.

The textile waste journey begins with Salesianer Miettex, as any fabrics that it has collected that cannot be reused are sent to ARA. From there, the textiles will travel to Caritas, where they will be hand sorted for recycling.

Following sorting, the post-consumer waste will head to Södra’s plant to be turned into OnceMore® pulp. Developed by Lenzing and Södra, OnceMore® is a cellulosic pulp made from polyester and cotton blend fabrics. As the final stage in the recycling process, Lenzing will use its REFIBRA™ technology to manufacture lyocell and viscose made from OnceMore®.

Lenzing’s vision for the circular economy is: “We give waste a new life. Every day.” We have been an early adopter of recycling technologies, such as our TENCEL™ x REFIBRA™ fibers that launched commercially in 2017. REFIBRA™ replaces a portion of the wood pulp inputs for lyocell production and replaces them with cotton-based textile scraps.

This latest collaborative effort is just part of Lenzing’s efforts to speed circular fashion change through partnership. For instance, since 2021 we have been working with Södra to advance the industrial recycling of cellulosic-based used textiles by sharing our respective knowledge. By 2027, we intend to reach an annual processing capacity of 50,000 tons of textile waste.

Lenzing is also on the steering committee for Accelerating Circularity, a nonprofit which brings together brands and supply chain partners to reduce textile waste through reuse.

“One company alone cannot solve the pressing problem of textile waste. Proactive partnerships such as these allow us to make progress and accomplish real systemic change,” said Sonja Zak, head of textile sourcing & cooperations at Lenzing Group. “We work hard to make our industries more sustainable and promote the transformation of the textile business model from linear to circular. Continued action across the whole sector will be necessary to facilitate this transition.”

This pilot comes as recycling is transitioning from a sustainability strategy to a business must. Policy moves are putting the responsibility on producers to address the impact of their goods after retail.

“The EU’s action plan puts waste and secondary raw materials front and center to cement their role on the market,” said Martin Prieler, CEO of ARA. “Thus, in the recycling business, it is vital to maintain a 360-degree view of all consumer products. ARA has been instrumental to the implementation of extended producer responsibility in Austria for 30 years. It therefore makes sense to incorporate this expertise into the textile sector. This means that in the future we will be recycling not only packaging, but as many products as possible, including textiles.”