Hand touching water surface

Resources

Water

Conservation of Water Resources

For us water is one of our most manifold resources. It plays an essential role in the natural cycle of wood growth and is used as a process and cooling agent in pulp and fiber production. By adopting resource- and water-efficient technologies and product innovation, we strive to provide fibers with low water consumption as well as optimize the water use in the entire value chain, for example by avoiding water-intensive fabric dyeing with spun-dyed fibers.

Natural water cycle

Sustainably managed forests – the source of raw materials for pulp and eventually our fibers – are an integral part of the natural water cycle. Besides no artificial irrigation is required for wood growth sustainably managed forests play an important role in stabilizing water availability and providing protection against flooding or droughts in respective regions. By adopting certification schemes for sustainable forest management, such as FSC® and PEFC, for supply of both wood and external pulp, we want to ensure preservation of the precious water resource in our sourcing regions.

Water conservation in our operations

We prioritize water efficiency in our production processes by reusing and recycling water as much as possible and where technically feasible. We also implement process improvements to lower freshwater use adopt new technologies to reduce water intensity over time.

We use water as process- and cooling water for our pulp and fiber production. It is our goal to close the water loops at all our sites as much as possible to reuse as much water as possible.

While the used process water is purified in our efficient wastewater treatment plants, our cooling water is not chemically changed and released back into the environment in accordance with environmental regulations.

Lyocell technology only requires about one third of the process water needed in the viscose technology (this comparison is based on the technologies used in the Lenzing Group). For this reason, the continuous expansion of our lyocell production also results in a reduction of the Lenzing Group’s specific water consumption.

In the textile industry, water is an integral element of various stages of the value chain, such as in dyeing. Our dope-dyed fibers enable us to contribute to the reduction of water consumption during textile production, as fabrics made from these fibers do not require the water-intensive process step of fabric dyeing.

In many regions of the world, naturally growing cellulose fibers, such as cotton, typically need huge amounts of water for irrigation as well as chemicals. Using Lenzing fibers instead of cotton or adding them to cotton products is an efficient contribution for reducing water impacts along the textile value chain.

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