Lenzing Group says it has made significant improvements to its Indonesia Purwakarta site (PT. South Pacific Viscose) and has invested more than €100m ($107.8m) since 2021 to convert its existing production capacity to speciality viscose.
The company believes the upgrades will put it in a good position to meet the growing demand for speciality fibres.
The company has set the goal of significantly reducing emissions at the site. In line with this, the site has started to obtain renewable grid electricity and is promoting a changeover to biomass keeping in mind Lenzing's goals of reducing carbon emissions per ton of product by 50% by 2030 and achieving carbon-neutral production by 2050.
Lenzing says it is also currently seeking certification from internationally recognised standard EU Ecolabel for its product portfolio, which includes Ecovero branded fibres for textiles and Veocel branded fibres for nonwoven applications.
Lenzing explains its Ecovero viscose fibres and Veocel speciality viscose cause significantly less greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution than generic viscose.
Lenzing Group CEO Stephan Sielaff remarks: "Demand for speciality fibres with low environmental impacts continues to grow structurally. We see enormous growth potential in Asia in particular. Through our investments in Indonesia and also at other Lenzing sites worldwide, we are in a better position to serve this growing demand. At the same time, we continue working tirelessly to make the industries in which we operate even more sustainable and to drive the transformation of the textile business model from linear to circular."
The technology, which is now available to consumers worldwide, features up to 20% recycled raw material content from post-consumer textile waste with Lenzing hoping to increase this ratio in future.
