Lenzing & Sodra receive largest EU LIFE subsidy for recycling project

Under the banner of LIFE TREATS (Textile Recycling in Europe AT Scale), both companies are pooling their decades-long experience, knowledge and technology to develop the unique OnceMore process in this project, which is co-funded by the EU. Lenzing will play a particularly crucial role in this process by deploying its expertise in recycling and its innovative Refibra technology.

This will enable a variety of complex, coloured textiles containing a mixture of cotton, polyester and other components including elastane to be processed and recycled in future. This next step, which is due to begin in the second quarter of 2023 and will run for four and a half years, will involve the construction and management of a facility for joint process development, as well as an extension of the OnceMore process. This will allow 60,000 tonnes of pulp – comprising 50 per cent recycled material and 50 per cent renewable pulp from sustainable forestry – to be produced at Sodra’s Swedish plant in Morrum. Moreover, the joint project will make a significant contribution to the EU’s action plan for circularity, which is supported by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), the company said in a press release.

“Today only one per cent of the world’s textile waste is recycled, putting an enormous burden on the environment. With the help of this significant funding, Sodra and Lenzing are ready to provide one of the main solutions in terms of chemical recycling and become the enabler for the circular textile economy,” said Asa Degerman, manager OnceMore by Sodra.

“Tackling the problem of textile waste requires a systematic approach, as well as technological solutions on an industrial scale,” said Sonja Zak, head of textile sourcing and cooperations at the Lenzing Group. “The LIFE TREATS project therefore follows an integrated approach to achieve real change and reduce the negative environmental and social impacts of the textile industry in the EU and beyond,” she adds.

“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,” added Degerman.  

Forthcoming legislation like the amendment to the EU’s Waste Framework Directive, in addition to increased user responsibility, and the decline in export markets for used textiles and evidence of deteriorating quality in collected textiles point to major changes ahead in the treatment of textile waste. Lenzing and Sodra acknowledge and are committed to complying with the waste hierarchy. Their procurement will be limited to the group of materials that cannot be reused in any other way. The project partners’ aim is not to undermine the repurposing of used textiles, but to prevent valuable fibre resources from being sent to landfill or incinerated.

The transition to a truly circular economy requires collaboration between several parties. Lenzing represents only one part of the textile and nonwoven value chain and supports cooperation between partners across the whole chain. Partnerships and projects such as these help Lenzing to promote and accelerate systemic change.

Lenzing and Sodra have been working together on textile recycling since 2021, making a crucial contribution to the promotion of circularity in the fashion industry. In the course of their cooperation, the companies plan to share their knowledge and jointly develop methods to facilitate the broader use of cellulose-based used textiles on an industrial scale. The OnceMore pulp developed by both companies will then be used for various purposes, including as a raw material for the production of Lenzing’s Tencel branded specialty fibres using Refibra technology. The aim of LIFE TREATS is to reach an annual processing capacity of 50,000 tonnes of textile waste by 2027. “This project is a fantastic example of how we can join forces to connect companies along the textile recycling value chain,” added Zak.

In line with its circular economy vision, “We give waste a new life. Every day”, Lenzing is driving the industry towards achieving a fully-fledged circular economy by endeavouring to give waste a new life in all aspects of its core business. Lenzing has been developing future-proof innovations in recycling for years, including its Refibra and Eco Cycle technologies. Beside the use of pure dissolving wood pulp, these technologies enable the processing of a large proportion of recycling material that is derived from cutting scraps in cotton production and used textiles, the release added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)