EANS-News: Lenzing AG Lenzing Number One in the World for Sustainable Wood
Sourcing
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Company Information/Sustainability
- Ranked first by the Canadian environmental organization Canopy Planet Society
- Re-confirmation of Lenzing's leadership role in the field of sustainability
- Acknowledgment of the innovative strength of Lenzing's new TENCEL® fiber from
recycled cotton waste
Lenzing - The Lenzing Group was rated number one globally with respect to the
procurement of wood, the key raw material in cellulose fiber production. This
was the conclusion of the latest global ranking compiled by the Canadian
non-profit environmental organization Canopy Planet Society, who cooperates with
68 leading retail brands in the textile industry worldwide and is a driver in
evaluating sustainable sourcing processes. Achieving the leading position in
this ranking is another major recognition of Lenzing's sustainability leadership
that is documented by numerous prizes, labels and certifications.(1) In its
Report(2), Canopy assessed the performance on forest conservation and wood
sourcing practices of the major players of the cellulose fiber industry. It also
commended Lenzing for its new TENCEL® fiber, which uses cotton fabric waste as
an alternative source of raw material.
"We are proud of this ranking, and see it as further evidence of the leadership
role played by the Lenzing Group in the field of sustainability. The origin of
the wood, the most important material, is the decisive factor for us at the
beginning of the production process", says Robert van de Kerkhof, Chief
Commercial Officer (CCO) of the Lenzing Group, in commenting on the ranking.
"Lenzing is continually striving to improve all its processes as well as its
procurement guidelines. Lenzing will also continue to intensively provide
support to the roadmap specified by Canopy as a means of preserving and
protecting global forests. This is because sustainability is a core element of
our business model", he adds.
Responsible sourcing combined with environmentally compatible technologies
Lenzing has been focusing on optimizing the sourcing of the renewable raw
material wood for more than 20 years in accordance with the principle of
sustainability. The company mainly relies on the Forest Stewardship Council®
(FSC®) certification system whenever possible. In Europe with its strict forest
regulations, Lenzing also makes use of the PEFC program as a means of
demonstrating its sustainable procurement activities. Close to 100 percent of
the wood and pulp used by the Lenzing Group is already certified by FSC® or
PEFC or is controlled in line with these standards.(3)
The combination of high wood and pulp procurement standards with best practice
process technologies reflects the sustainability leadership of the Lenzing
Group. Both the production of Lenzing Viscose® fibers and the wide range of
specialties, such as the TENCEL® fiber and Lenzing Modal®, are produced using
high environmental standards and highly resource-efficient closed loop
processes.
Lenzing has been working steadily on the further improvement and environmental
responsibility of its production processes. In this regard, Lenzing relies on
the principle of closed loop production as well as the complete use of the raw
material wood in its "biorefinery". R&D expenditures of the Lenzing Group, which
are already significantly higher than the industry average, were further
increased in the current 2016 financial year to enable the company to press
ahead with the development of new, ecologically-driven technologies.
Lenzing also a leader in alternative raw materials thanks to the new TENCEL®
fiber from recycled cotton waste
Another criterion serving as the basis for Lenzing's number one global ranking
was its performance in the field of alternative raw material sources. Lenzing
once again demonstrated its leadership in sustainable fiber industry innovations
by developing the new TENCEL® fiber on the basis of cotton fabric waste. This
groundbreaking innovation links pioneering work in textile recycling with the
environmental award-winning closed loop fiber technology of TENCEL®.
With this innovation Lenzing underpins its core value sustainabilty as a key
business driver. It paves the way to solutions for the textile industry's
pressing issue of more than 150 bn garments produced and partly disposed of
every year.
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(1) http://www.lenzing.com/en/responsibility/awards.html
(2)
http://canopyplanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/The-Hot-Button-Issue-The-CanopyStyle-Report-2016.pdf
(3) Lenzing reserves itself the right to use and investigate small amounts of
raw material that is submitted to a due diligence procedure largely following
FSC® guidelines but may not yet be fully certified.
Further inquiry note:
Lenzing AG
Mag. Waltraud Kaserer
Vice President Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
Tel.: +43 (0) 7672 701-2713
mailto:w.kaserer@lenzing.com
end of announcement euro adhoc
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company: Lenzing AG
A-A-4860 Lenzing
phone: +43 7672-701-0
FAX: +43 7672-96301
mail: office@lenzing.com
WWW: http://www.lenzing.com
sector: Chemicals
ISIN: AT0000644505
indexes: WBI, ATX, Prime Market
stockmarkets: official market: Wien
language: English