“Fibre Recyling Initative” First Start in the Denim Segment
Lenzing Group launched the ‘Fiber Recycling Initiative’ together with the Tencel™ brand and production partners. The initiative, which focuses on the future of the textile industry, circularity and innovation, aims to transform the first stage by starting in the denim segment
Within the scope of the initiative, denim fabrics will be produced primarily by recycling Tencel™ Lyocell fibers by mechanical methods.
Lenzing Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of cellulosic special fibers, has launched the first phase of the ‘Fiber Recycling Initiative’. Business partners such as Artistic Milliner from Pakistan, Canatiba from Brazil, and Textil Santanderina from Spain support the initiative. The initiative will define the future of the sustainable denim industry with the commercial-scale use of pre-consumption Lyocell fiber waste.
Tuncay Kılıçkan, Head of Lenzing Global Business Development Denim Unit, said the following about the new initiative: “Brands and consumers expect us to lead a more sustainable industrial value chain. While we continue to look for new methods to increase cyclicity in the textile industry, we also started the mechanical recycling of Tencel™ Lyocell fibers for use in denim production with our long-standing business partners who share the same approach with us. While this concept is relatively new to the industry at large, the Fiber Recycling Initiative developed by Tencel™ aims to fully exploit the potential of new circular fabrics by promoting the benefits of this practice.”
Artistic Milliners Research, Product and Trend Director Baber Sultan said: “The circularity in denim undeniably determines both the present and the future of denim. In addition to the textile industry, we are witnessing the wide-scale application of mechanical recycling, especially in the construction industry and paper production. Considering the high durability rate of Tencel™ Lyocell fibers, we have the advantage of increasing the rate of recycled materials while producing higher quality fabrics,”
Canatiba Product Development Team stated that mechanically recycled Tencel™ Lyocell fibers offer an ideal use for denim: “This new fabric, which is obtained unlike cotton, preserves length, durability and all other physical properties with its extremely soft texture. Compared to conventional fibers, it can protect its properties better. The resulting recycled fiber can be produced in a completely clean and sustainable process without the use of water or chemicals.”
Textil Santanderina Corporate Social Responsibility Manager José Antonio Mazorra, “We believe that the future of the textile industry depends on sustainability and circularity. Innovation and technological advances in the field of circularity, such as the collection, sorting, and recycling stages, will hopefully increase the need for mechanically recycled cellulosic fibers,” he said.
The first phase of the newly established initiative aims to address the calls for more sustainability, circularity, and transparency in the global textile value chain by bringing up the work of Lenzing and its manufacturing partners on sustainability in denim production. At the heart of all this are the growing demands of consumers seeking more sustainable and circular product options.
Conventional Tencel™ Lyocell fibers: It is known that wood pulp obtained from sustainable sources is converted into cellulosic fibers with high resource efficiency and a low carbon footprint, and it is obtained through an environmentally friendly and closed-loop production process.
Mechanically recycled TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers contribute to the sustainability of denim fabrics as they do not require the use of water or chemicals. Fabrics produced using mechanically recycled TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers have aesthetics close to cotton while maintaining the basic properties of TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers, such as breathability, smoothness, volume, a gentle touch to the skin, and long-lasting comfort. The fact that the fibers are also detectable in the final products ensures traceability and transparency in the production processes. Thanks to traceability to sources, mechanically recycled TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers can be documented and verified. This ensures greater accountability and transparency in the supply chain.
