Lenzing AG is celebrating its 75th anniversary with the presentation of its new book ‘75 Years of Innovation’, which honours Lenzing’s role as the driving force of innovation in the industry.

Global market and sustainability

75 years ago Lenzing manufactured 30,000 tons of fibres per year and today the company’s  fibre production volume  is about to reach a level of 900,000 tons, making it  a market and technology leader for man-made cellulose fibres.

Lenzing fibres were once a cheap substitute for cotton but now  they are highly sought-after premium products which are valued due to the renewable raw material of wood and the environmentally-compatible production.

One of the Lenzing’s main focuses is to minimise the environmental burden of its  production process. The company’s recent development Tencel, is a forward-looking technology which Lenzing expects to shape the cellulose fibre industry in the coming decades.

Innovation and research

Boasting above-average expenditures in research and development, Lezning says it is positioning itself as an undisputed innovation leader in the man-made cellulose fibre industry.

The Lenzing Group operates the world’s leading research centre for cellulose and fibre chemistry at the Lenzing site and  some 1,400 patents and patent applications in 57 countries demonstrate the effectiveness and performance of this team of specialists.

An important objective for the company is to develop ecological production methods and sustainable products with increasingly specialised areas of application.

Tencel

The Lenzing fibre Tencel is produced in accordance with the lyocell process, which was granted the ‘European Award for the Environment’ by the EU, due to its environmentally compatible technology.

It is designed for sensitive segments such as cosmetics, hygiene and medicine and is also used in the technical segment, for example to enhance the strength of plastics or to manufacture electro-technical components. The latest technical application is Tencel powder. It is deployed as a moisture regulator in foam mattresses and as additives to building materials.

Future plans

The further development of Tencel technology remains the main focal point of Lenzing’s research efforts. In addition to three Tencel plants, Lenzing also operates three pilot facilities in which new applications for Tencel fibres are developed and tested on a semi-industrial scale.

The fourth Tencel factory is currently under construction at the Lenzing site in Upper Austria. It will commence operations next year and mark the next technological step for Tencel.

www.lenzing.com