Tencel with a proportion of recycled cotton

The textile company Lenzing is launching a new Tencel fibre, which is mixed with 20 percent recycled cotton. With it, they are not only bringing out a new, environmentally friendly fibre, but are taking yet another major step in the direction of a production process that conserves natural resources.

Austrian fibre producers Lenzing have been offering Tencel since 1992; Tencel is a regenerated product made from cellulose. Because of its ecologically irreproachable manufacturing process, which eschews all toxic solvents and thus forms a closed materials cycle, Tencel ranks as low level in terms of its pollutant potential. To develop this fibre further, Lenzing are now using recycled cotton, which is converted back into cellulose and then finally reprocessed and made into Tencel. The recycled raw material does not come from post consumer waste; instead it comes from industrial cotton waste. With this new development, Lenzing is now the first fibre manufacturer in the world to work recycled materials into cellulose fibres. At the same time, Lenzing AG have made possible a practical solution, which establishes the circular economy in the apparel industry and is suitable for wide-scale application.

The new generation of fibres is not going to be offered to yarn or fabric producers, but exclusively to wholesale companies and brands themselves, in order to guarantee both a closed circle and the maximum possible transparency. The fibre manufacturers have entered into their first partnership with the Spanish giant Inditex, who, as well as owning Zara, also own brands such as Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti and Bershka. And the outdoor brand Patagonia is also one of their partners.

This article was published in: www.sustainability-texpertise-network.com