In the newly published Sustainability Report 2022, the Austrian Lenzing Group summarizes its progress in the area of sustainability. With the title “Advancing Circularity”, the company emphasizes its efforts to further advance the transformation of the textile and nonwovens industries from a linear to a circular economy model. To this end, the company is involved in various cross-company projects and initiatives, such as the EU-funded consortium CISUTAC (Circular and Sustainable Textile and Clothing).
Production with green energy
Lenzing was also able to make progress on the climate targets in the year under review. The opening of a new lyocell plant in Prachinburi, Thailand in March 2022 is an “important milestone on Lenzing’s path towards net-zero emissions by 2050,” according to the company. The site runs on 100 percent sustainable energy from biomass and is the largest of its kind for the production of lyocell fibers. In addition, Lenzing began converting the site in Nanjing, China, to green electricity in September. Since this year, it has been using almost 100 percent green electricity, which reduces CO2 emissions by 100,000 tons annually.
Sustainably produced raw materials
A newly built pulp mill in Brazil, which feeds surplus energy into the Brazilian grid, represents Lenzing’s largest investment in the supply of dissolving pulp for wood-based fiber production. This resulted in further investments in sustainable plantations that provide the required raw materials. With a view to 2023, 70,000 hectares of a sustainably managed plantation are required for stable long-term production, according to Lenzing. By the end of 2022, Lenzing had already reached 57,000 hectares. This makes progress in achieving the climate goals possible, as Lenzing can minimize the environmental risk in the procurement of raw materials.
Investment in photovoltaics
In October 2022, Lenzing reached another strategic milestone with the completion of a large photovoltaic ground-mounted system at its headquarters in Lenzing. The system is to be supplemented with another photovoltaic system from the end of 2023.
The sustainability report was prepared in accordance with the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Sustainability and Diversity Improvement Act (NaDiVeG) and audited by KPMG Austria GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft.