Lenzing and Södra Get $10.9 Million for Textile Recycling Investment
The European Union has awarded its largest grant ever to Lenzing Group and Södra, the Swedish pulp producer, for a recycling project. The $10 million euro ($10.9 million) funds are part of the LIFE 2022 program to develop textile waste recycling on an industrial scale. It will give a significant boost to the EU’s action plan for circularity which is supported by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).
Under the banner of Life Treats (Textile Recycling in Europe At Scale) in a project co-funded by the EU, the two companies will be pooling their experience in textiles technology to further develop the OnceMore process for recycling blended fabrics. A leading international provider of specialty fibers for the textile and non-woven industries, Lenzing will provide the recycling expertise and its Refibra technology that enables a variety of complex, colored textiles made from cotton, polyester, elastane and other components to be processed and recycled.
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The project will launch in the second quarter of 2023 and run for four and a half years, and also involves the construction and management of a facility to house the operation and an extension of the OnceMore process. It will enable 60,000 tons of pulp to be produced at Södra’s Mörrom, Sweden plant, half of it made from recycled material and half from sustainable forestry.
This kind of collaboration is exactly what textile recycling needs, according to Sonja Zak, head of textile sourcing and cooperation at Lenzing, which is headquartere in the Austrian town of the same name.
“Tackling the problem of textile waste requires a systematic approach, as well as technological solutions on an industrial scale,” she said. “The Life Treats project therefore follows an integrated approach to achieve real change and reduce the negative environmental and social media impacts of the textile industry in the EU and beyond.”
Åsa Degerman, manager of Södra’s OnceMore initiative, noted how the generous funding will be an enabler of the circular textile economy.
“As the first large-scale project of its kind, Life Treats will have a positive influence on the textile industry as a whole, create new circular business opportunities and increase the share of recycled fibers in new clothing,” he said.
Life Treats is projected to produce 50,000 tons of textile waste by 2027.
There are major changes ahead for the treatment of textile waste, pushed forward by an amendment to the EU’s Waste Framework Directive, increased user responsibility, the decline in export markets for used textiles and deteriorating quality in those collected. Lenzing and Södra will work within the changing guidelines, limit procurement to textiles that cannot be reused any other way and strive to sustain the repurposing of used textiles while preventing valuable fiber resources from going to the landfill or the incinerator.
Lenzing has been collaborating with Södra on textile recycling since 2021, and plans to continue to broaden the use of used cellulose-based textiles on an industrial scale. For example, OnceMore pulp developed by both companies will be used as a raw material for producing Lenzing’s Tencel branded specialty fibers using Refibra technology.
Lenzing has been developing future-proof innovations in recycling for years, of which Refibra and Eco Cycle are part. Besides the use of dissolved wood pulp, these technologies enable the processing of a large proportion of recycling material derived from cutting scraps in cotton production and used textiles. The company is part of CISUTAC (Circular and Sustainable Textile and Clothing), a 27-member consortium established to support the transition to a circular and sustainable textile sector. Members include industry association Euratex, Zara owner Inditex, PVH, Decathlon and the NGO Oxfam.
“This project is a fantastic example of how we can join forces to connect companies along the textile recycling value chain,” Degerman said.
