#Yarn & Fiber

2020-09-03

Lenzing creates unprecedented level of traceability

Most of the top 100 fashion brands have announced targets for 100% sustainable fibers target by 2025 , but less than 5% of those brands can trace their textile inputs to verify the sustainability credentials of the fiber producers. This helps explain why the first ‘core priority for immediate implementation’ of the CEO Agenda (from Global Fashion Agenda) is supply chain traceability.

To address this pressing challenge, three sustainability pioneers in the fashion industry – Lenzing, ArmedAngels and Schneider – joined hands with TextileGenesis™ to create an unprecedented level of traceability. The fiber-to-retail traceability pilots covered 45 garment styles each containing LENZING™ ECOVERO™ specialty viscose fibers or AUTHENTICO® organic wool, from supply chains spanning six countries.

Using the innovative Fibercoin™ technology of the TextileGenesis™ platform, Lenzing, ArmedAngels, and Schneider were able to issue digital blockchain ‘assets’ (or tokens) in direct proportion to the physical shipments of LENZING™ ECOVERO™ and Authentico® fibers. These digital tokens provide a unique ‘fingerprint’ and authentication mechanism, preventing adulteration and providing a secure, digital chain-of-custody across the entire textile value chain.

“We at ARMEDANGELS believe that sustainable products start with transparency. But product traceability in the textile supply chain can be quite a challenge. Our aim is always to make a difference. To find the best partners, to push boundaries together and find solutions! Cooperating with TextileGenesis™ and conducting two successful real-time blockchain-based traceability projects showed us that it is not only about sustainability, fraud protection, quantification and accountability, but also a true return on invest. Plus, the platform provides a true global language for supply chain tracking” says Martin Hoefler, CEO and Founder of ArmedAngels.

Lenzing has been at the forefront of the digital traceability and showcased a ‘first of a kind’ blockchain-enabled traceability for TENCEL™ branded fibers at the Hong Kong fashion summit last year. “The objective of this pilot was to demonstrate scalability across all generation of wood-based cellulosic fibers and therefore we chose LENZING™ ECOVERO™ fibers – the most sustainable viscose - for traceability. We believe that traceability and sustainability are deeply interconnected, and as market pioneers we are paving the way for the rest of the industry. The combination of physical markers in LENZING™ ECOVERO™ and the supply chain traceability on TextileGenesis™ creates the industry’s most comprehensive fiber assurance mechanism – brands can be fully sure they actually receive when they pay for Lenzing’s sustainable fibers” says Robert van de Kerkhof, CCO and Board member of Lenzing. In Q4 2020, Lenzing will roll out TextileGenesis™ globally for its TENCEL™ and LENZING™ ECOVERO™ fibers portfolio.

Schneider Group – industry’s leading wool tops producer – demonstrated complete farm to retail traceability for its AUTHENTICO® program (a sustainable wool program with deep engagement among sheep-growers in Australia, New Zealand and Argentina).

“Schneider led the way with Organic wool tops production and carbon neutral wool offering, and is again paving the way for the wool industry to an unprecedented level of traceability. Our AUTHENTICO® wool program is unique due to its grass-root engagement with growers, and we wanted to offer the possibility for brands to have the complete supply chain visibility for AUTHENTICO® wool. The pilots with TextileGenesis™ demonstrates the scalability of the technology across the supply chain and creates an innovative way to offer complete assurance to brands and consumers” says Jeffrey Losekoot CEO of The Schneider Group.

TextileGenesis™ is an industry-leading traceability platform for the fashion industry and invented Fibercoins™ technology (patent pending). It’s a global network of sustainable fiber producers, leading brands, and key industry organizations to accelerate the adoption of fiber-to-retail traceability. “Fashion & textile is one of the most fragmented industries resulting in highly opaque supply chains. Our focus from the beginning has been to build a truly scalable fiber-to-retail traceability platform for the industry. In five years, we believe that majority of top 100 brands will only source sustainable and traceable textile raw materials” says Amit Gautam, CEO & Founder of TextileGenesis™.

Lenzing confirmed as global leader in Canopy sustainability ranking

Lenzing AG has once again taken first place in this year's Hot Button Report published by the Canadian non-profit organization Canopy. With 34.5 out of 40 points and no known risk of sourcing from ancient and endangered forests, Lenzing remains one of the most sustainable companies in regenerated cellulose fiber production – setting a benchmark for responsible business practices in the textile and nonwovens industries.

Lenzing AG refines strategy and strengthens competitiveness for a challenging environment

Lenzing AG, a leading provider of regenerated cellulosic fibers, refined its strategy to strengthen its global positioning and competitiveness. With this step, the company responds to the ongoing challenges in the global textile and nonwovens markets as well as geopolitical changes. Cornerstones of the refined strategy include focusing on high-performance fibers, enhancing operational efficiency and asset footprint optimization, which should further unlock the company’s full value creation potential.

Lenzing AG accelerates energy transition with expanded renewable energy portfolio

The Lenzing Group, a leading provider of regenerated cellulose fibers for the textile and nonwoven industries, is setting another milestone in the energy transition by expanding its photovoltaic capacities at its Lenzing site. Together with VERBUND, a new PV plant with a capacity of 1.3 megawatts peak (MWp) has been commissioned, increasing the total capacity of the PV plant park to 8.3 MWp. Lenzing is thereby investing in a stable and diversified energy supply and is also making an active contribution to the energy transition.

Better, faster, bio-based: Functional new Plastic alternatives

How can new bio-based and biohybrid materials with improved features be developed faster? Six Fraunhofer institutes are jointly exploring this question in the SUBI²MA flagship project, using an innovative bio-based polyamide developed by Fraunhofer researchers as a model. Its specific properties make it a promising alternative to fossil-based plastics.

Compact, powerful, cost-efficient – KARL MAYER launches its HKS 2-SE TWO

KARL MAYER is launching a new two-bar tricot machine for the elastic sector at ITMA ASIA + CITME 2025. This newcomer is called HKS 2-SE TWO, stands for double customer benefits, and offers even more advantages than the predecessor model. With this innovation, the leading textile machinery company is once again asserting its top position in the market.

VDMA members at ITMA ASIA + CITME in Singapore

With 69 exhibiting member companies, ITMA ASIA + CITME 2025 is once again marked by a strong presence of VDMA companies. Altogether 82 companies from Germany will exhibit at the show, covering about 3,500 square meters of exhibition space, topped only by China and Italy. VDMA initiated a German Pavilion with two group stands (spinning in hall 4 and finishing in hall 7) with a total of 30 exhibitors.

Marzoli unveals its new textile ecosystem at ITMA ASIA + CITME 2025 at Singapore

With the claim “Designed to Impact”, Marzoli showcases its evolution into a complete engineering company for the textile industry. By combining advanced machinery, digital intelligence, science of materials and innovative services, the company enables textile manufacturers unlock new business opportunities, and accelerate their path to innovation and differentiation.

textile.4U publishes special edition “Top 100 Textile Recycling Companies 2025”

With a comprehensive 176-page special edition, textile.4U is dedicating its latest issue entirely to one of the most dynamic and influential topics in today’s textile industry: textile recycling. The new issue, published exclusively in high-quality print, presents the Top 100 textile recycling companies researched and selected by TexData – organizations that already play a key role in the transition to circular textiles or are expected to have a significant impact in the near future.