Lenzing Group (Austria) has announced that its Refibra technology has successfully produced Tencel Lyocell fibres using post-consumer cotton waste as part of the recycled raw material proportion.

Currently, Refibra technology upcycles a substantial proportion of pre-consumer cotton scraps from garment production and mixes it with virgin wood pulp to produce new Tencel Lyocell fibres. In September increased the composition of pulp made from upcycled cotton scraps collected from the garment manufacturing process to up to 30%.

Now, in its second phase, amongst the 30% of recycled raw material content, Lenzing can incorporate up to 10% of post-consumer cotton waste into the mixture. Tencel Lyocell fibres with Refibra technology are produced on demand and capacity can reach thousands of tons for both generations, the company said in a report. 

“Our world’s forests and climate need these kinds of Next Generation Solutions at both scale and speed in the cellulosic fibre sector. Canopy applauds Lenzing for the vision of making textile waste recycling common place and for launching this commercially available product line with the first steps of post-consumer recycled content,” said Nicole Rycroft, Executive Director of Canopy. Lenzing believes that the growing adoption of recycled textiles is an essential part of the fiber industry’s future growth strategy. Such frontier production model can help revolutionize the fashion industry and empower brands who are looking for eco-responsible textile value chains. Lenzing’s vision is to make textile waste recycling a common process like paper recycling.

“Based on the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12, Responsible Consumption and Production, it is Lenzing’s clear vision to produce fibres with Refibra technology using post-consumer textile waste as raw materials. Being able to use discarded garments consisting of a wider range of materials will greatly enlarge the raw material basis for textile recycling,” the company said in a statement.

The technology helps tackle the problem of textile waste, while also reducing the extraction of wood as a raw material and relieves the pressure on global forest ecosystems.

Lenzing is the first producer of wood-based cellulosic fibres offering Global Recycling Standard (GRS) and the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) offering perfect transparency for the materials used during production. Produced in eco-responsible closed-loop production process, fibres produced using Refibra technology are 100% bio-based. The fibres will also feature properties of enhanced breathability through good moisture management, silky smoothness and strength.