Together with the Swedish pulp manufacturer Södra, the Lenzing Group, a world-leading developer of speciality fibres for the textile and nonwoven sectors, has made another significant step towards reaching a circular future. The initiative will be sponsored by €10 million EU funding as part of the LIFE 2022 programme to develop industrial-scale textile waste recycling.
Under the title of LIFE TREATS (Textile Recycling in Europe AT Scale), both firms are combining their decades of expertise, knowledge, and technology to develop the unique OnceMore method in this EU-funded initiative. Lenzing will play a critical role in this process by leveraging its recycling knowledge and unique Refibra technology.
This will allow for the future processing and recycling of a wide range of complex, colourful textiles made up of cotton, polyester, and other components such as elastane. This next stage, which is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2023 and will last four and a half years, will include the building and operation of a joint process development centre, as well as an extension of the OnceMore process. This will allow Sodra’s Swedish facility in Morrum to generate 60,000 tonnes of pulp made up of 50% recycled material and 50% renewable pulp from sustainable forestry.
Furthermore, the combined initiative will make a substantial contribution to the EU’s circularity action plan, which is backed by the European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), according to a news statement from the firm.
“Today, only 1% of the world’s textile waste is recycled, posing a huge environmental burden.” With the help of this significant funding, Sodra and Lenzing are ready to provide one of the main solutions in terms of chemical recycling and become the enabler for the circular textile economy,” said Asa Degerman, manager OnceMore by Sodra.
“Tackling the problem of textile waste requires a systematic approach, as well as technological solutions on an industrial scale,” said Sonja Zak, head of textile sourcing and cooperations at the Lenzing Group. “The LIFE TREATS project, therefore, follows an integrated approach to achieve real change and reduce the negative environmental and social impacts of the textile industry in the EU and beyond,” she says.
“LIFE TREATS, as the first large-scale project of its kind, will have a positive impact on the textile industry as a whole, creating new circular business opportunities and increasing the share of recycled fibres in new clothing,” Degerman added.
Future legislation, such as an amendment to the EU’s Waste Framework Directive, increased user responsibility, a decline in export markets for used textiles, and evidence of deteriorating quality in collected textiles all point to significant changes in the treatment of textile waste. Lenzing and Sodra are aware of the situation and want to comply. Their purchases will be limited to items that cannot be utilised in any other way. The project partners’ goal is not to hinder the repurposing of worn textiles, but rather to save important fibre resources from being disposed of or burnt.
Several stakeholders must work together to shift to a genuinely circular economy. Lenzing is only one aspect of the textile and nonwoven value chain, but it encourages collaboration among all partners. Partnerships and programmes like these assist Lenzing in promoting and accelerating systemic transformation.
Since 2021, Lenzing and Sodra have collaborated on textile recycling, making an important contribution to the advancement of circularity in the fashion sector. Both firms’ OnceMore pulp will subsequently be utilised for a variety of applications, including as a raw material in the creation of Lenzing’s Tencel branded speciality fibres utilising Refibra technology. LIFE TREATS’ goal is to have a textile waste processing capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year by 2027. “This project is a fantastic example of how we can join forces to connect companies along the textile recycling value chain,” Zak said.
“We give waste a new life,” according to the company’s circular economy goal. Every day,” Lenzing is leading the industry towards a fully-fledged circular economy by attempting to repurpose trash in all facets of its core business. For years, Lenzing has been creating future-proof recycling breakthroughs such as its Refibra and Eco-Cycle technologies. In addition to the use of pure dissolving wood pulp, these technologies allow for the processing of a high amount of recycling material produced from cutting wastes in cotton manufacture and worn textiles, according to the statement.
