EANS-News: Lenzing AG LENZING? fibers are fully biodegradable in water, soil
and compost
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Company Information
Highlights -
* Organic Waste Systems and TÜV confirm fiber biodegradability also in fresh
water
* All white LENZING(TM) Viscose, Modal and Lyocell fibers are now certified for
all environments
* Global legislators aim at limiting plastic waste persisting in the environment
for centuries
* EU Single-Use Plastics Directive partly regulates usage of plastic products
* Biodegradable materials such as wood-based fibers are the best alternative to
single-use plastics
Lenzing - The Lenzing Group received confirmation of the full biodegradability
of its fibers in fresh water by the independent research laboratory Organic
Waste Systems (OWS). The new and existing international certifications conducted
by OWS and issued by TÜV Austria verify that LENZING(TM) Viscose fibers, LENZING
(TM) Modal fibers and LENZING(TM) Lyocell fibers are biodegradable in all
natural and industrial environments: in the soil, compost as well as in fresh
and in marine water.
The biodegradability of cellulosic products and the synthetic fiber polyester
was tested in fresh water at OWS according to valid international standards,
e.g. ISO 14851. At the end of the trial period, LENZING(TM) wood-based
cellulosic fibers, cotton and paper pulp were shown to be fully biodegradable in
fresh water in contrast to synthetic polyester fibers. The fact that synthetic
materials are not biodegradable leads to major problems in wastewater treatment
plants and potentially marine litter. In turn, this not only harms fish and
birds living in and close to the oceans but also all marine organisms and us
humans.
"The Lenzing Group operates a truly circular business model based on the
renewable raw material wood to produce biodegradable fibers returning to nature
after use. This complete cycle comprises the starting point of the core value of
sustainability embedded in our company strategy sCore TEN and is the 'raison
d'etre' of our company", says Stefan Doboczky, Chief Executive Officer of the
Lenzing Group. "In living up to this positioning, we not only enhance the
business of our suppliers, customers and partners along the value chain but also
improve the state of the entire textile and nonwovens industries."
Both the textile and nonwovens industries face huge challenges with respect to
littering. If current trends continue, the oceans could contain more plastic
than fish by 2050. Therefore, legislative bodies worldwide can no longer ignore
the issue and have moved towards plastics legislation aimed at limiting the vast
amount of waste. In response, European lawmakers issued the Single-Use Plastics
Directive currently being transposed into national legislation in the EU member
states.
Conventional wet wipes and hygiene products mostly contain plastic and were thus
identified as one of the product categories to be singled out. Less polluting
alternatives are generally encouraged by NGOs and legislators, e.g. products
made of biodegradable wood-based cellulosic fibers. Plastic waste including
microplastic can persist in the environment for centuries. In contrast,
biodegradable materials are the best alternative to single-use plastics because
they fully convert back to nature by definition and thus do not require
recycling.
Photo Download:
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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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issuer: Lenzing AG
A-A-4860 Lenzing
phone: +43 7672-701-0
FAX: +43 7672-96301
mail: office@lenzing.com
WWW: http://www.lenzing.com
ISIN: AT0000644505
indexes: ATX, WBI
stockmarkets: Wien
language: English