- The Heiligenkreuz location in Burgenland has been a success story for 25 years
- Milestone of 1 million sustainably produced lyocell fibers reached
- Significant contribution to the strategy and corporate success of the Lenzing Group
Heiligenkreuz – Today, June 8, 2022, the Lenzing Group, leading supplier of wood-based specialty fibers for the global textile and nonwovens industries, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its site in Heiligenkreuz, Burgenland. Since it went into operation, the lyocell plant has made a significant contribution to the corporate success of the Lenzing Group. In addition, the site can look forward to the successful production of one million tons of wood-based, biodegradable lyocell fibers.
Stephan Sielaff, CEO of the Lenzing Group, and Bernd Zauner, Managing Director of Lenzing Fibers Heiligenkreuz, welcomed the employees as well as numerous guests of honor such as Governor Hans Peter Doskozil, Georg Rosner, member of the Burgenland Parliament and 2nd President of the Parliament, and Manfred Gerger, President of the Burgenland Association of Industrialists.
“We are very proud of the milestones we have reached. The Heiligenkreuz site has developed into an extremely important part of the Lenzing Group and today makes a significant contribution to the implementation of our specialty fiber strategy. Special thanks go to our employees for their commitment and tireless efforts. Together we will continue to drive the transformation of the global textile and nonwovens industries from a linear to a circular economy model in the future,” says Stephan Sielaff, CEO of Lenzing AG.
“25 years ago we started the production of environmentally friendly lyocell fibers at the site and have since expanded it into one of the largest industrial employers in southern Burgenland. This anniversary and the production of the 1 millionth tonne of lyocell fibers are major milestones in our success story and mean a great deal for southern Burgenland enormous growth and innovation boost,” says Bernd Zauner, Managing Director of Lenzing Fibers Heiligenkreuz.
Pollution of the environment – especially the oceans – is one of the biggest problems of our time. The fashion industry burdens the environment with its “fast fashion” business model and the increasing consumption of fossil raw materials in textile production to a particularly extreme extent. The lyocell process is the most modern of its kind for the production of fibers from wood. It has been used successfully on a large scale for around 30 years and is particularly environmentally friendly. The idea behind it is that the fiber pulp is dissolved and processed in a closed process cycle without any chemical change.
Lenzing came across Lyocell technology in 1990 and developed it further. After many years of research work and the construction of a pilot plant, the first lyocell production plant on an industrial scale finally went into operation in 1997 at the then new location in Heiligenkreuz.
Today, Heiligenkreuz is not just a manufacturer of specialty fibers. The location also developed into an important hub for the development of new, sustainable innovations. A revolutionary technology from Lenzing is the REFIBRA(TM) recycling technology, which has been decisively further developed at the Burgenland site. The lyocell plant in Heiligenkreuz also supports the ambitious climate goals of the Lenzing Group. In 2019, the Lenzing Group was the first company in its industry to strategically commit to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of product by 50 percent by 2030. The goal for 2050 is: a CO2-neutral future. This goal is scientifically recognized by the Science Based Targets initiative.