The Lenzing Group has received confirmation that its fibres are fully biodegradable in fresh water, by the independent research laboratory Organic Waste Systems (OWS). The new and existing international certifications conducted by OWS and issued by TÜV Austria verify that Lenzing Viscose fibres, Lenzing Modal fibres and Lenzing Lyocell fibres are biodegradable in all natural and industrial environments: in the soil, compost as well as in fresh and in marine water.
The biodegradability of cellulosic products and the synthetic fibre polyester was tested in fresh water at OWS according to valid international standards, eg ISO 14851. At the end of the trial period, Lenzing wood-based cellulosic fibres, cotton and paper pulp were shown to be fully biodegradable in fresh water in contrast to synthetic polyester fibres. The fact that synthetic materials are not biodegradable leads to major problems in wastewater treatment plants and potentially marine litter. In turn, this not only harms fish and birds living in and close to the oceans but also all marine organisms and us humans.
“The Lenzing Group operates a truly circular business model based on the renewable raw material wood to produce biodegradable fibres returning to nature after use. This complete cycle comprises the starting point of the core value of sustainability embedded in our company strategy sCore TEN and is the ‘raison d’etre’ of our company,” says Stefan Doboczky, chief executive officer of the Lenzing Group. “In living up to this positioning, we not only enhance the business of our suppliers, customers and partners along the value chain, but also improve the state of the entire textile and nonwovens industries.”
