For five of its production sites, The Lenzing Group, a top provider of regenerated cellulose fibers to the textile and nonwovens industries, has received exceptional certification for the Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (FSLM). This required calculating the social impact of manufacturing in relation to things like pay, working hours, employee care, and health and safety. The worldwide textile industry faces a number of social issues in addition to ecological and economic ones, such as unstable working conditions, violations of human rights, and other social grievances in various value chain segments. Overcoming issues requires openness at every stage of the supply chain.
Obtaining a legitimate, independently verified, and approved social standard certificate for every production site in the Lenzing Group by 2024 is one of the company’s main sustainability objectives. The Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (Higg FSLM), which evaluates social and labor-related situations, is used to achieve this purpose. More than 7,200 businesses globally undertook this assessment in 2023, and Lenzing’s performance put it in the top 25% of all confirmed Higg FSLM facilities.
The exceptional outcomes in the Higg Facility Social & Labor Module fill us with great joy. They once again demonstrate our active commitment to improving working conditions and demonstrate that social responsibility and sustainability are not just catchphrases or platitudes for us. “We will stick to our goals and keep working to make the textile industry more equitable and sustainable for all stakeholders,” says Christian Skilich, a member of the Lenzing Group’s management board.
Nowadays, in order for businesses such as Lenzing to be taken into consideration as a supplier, they need independently validated social certificates. Big-name companies and retailers have already set explicit rules requiring prospective suppliers to be socially certified for their supply chains.
“If we can show clearly and transparently that social aspects of sustainability are just as important to us as environmental issues, this will improve our business relationships,” says Florian Heubrandner, executive vice president of the Lenzing Group’s Commercial Textiles division. The Society for Applied Economic Research in Innsbruck, Austria, conducted a study recently that highlights Lenzing’s accountability as a significant employer. Between its production plants in five countries, the Lenzing Group generates 25,292 people overall.
Because every direct job produced generates more than two extra indirect jobs in other economic sectors, this figure includes both employees and indirect jobs.
