The
Lenzing Group was recently awarded the coveted “State Prize for Innovationâ€Â.
Lenzing emerged as the winner with its project Lenzing Web Technology and thus
received the highest recognition for particularly innovative achievements in
Austria. The novel process combines fibre and nonwovens production in only one
step, setting new standards in terms of efficiency, circularity and ecological
sustainability. Margarete Schramböck, Federal Minister for Digital and Economic
Affairs, presented the award to Gert Kroner, Vice President Global Research
& Development.
“This
award is a great recognition of our work. Our goal is to grow continuously with
sustainable innovations and to look beyond our fibres, to the needs of our
customers and partners and to the needs of consumers worldwide. With the
Lenzing Web Technology we have created an exciting and promising solution for
eco-friendly products in line with our corporate strategy sCore TEN and support
consumers in their daily needs in a sustainable wayâ€Â, said Stefan Doboczky, CEO, Lenzing.
Biodegradable nonwovens for a clean
environment
The
pollution of the environment by plastics is one of the most urgent problems of
our time. Every day, millions of hygiene products and wipes around the globe
end up in garbage and sewage. Most of them consist of up to 80 per cent
polyester or other fossil, non-biodegradable materials and therefore pollute
the environment.
With
the Web Technology, Lenzing has developed a patented technology to counter this
problem: Sustainable and eco-friendly nonwovens are produced from the renewable
raw material wood. These are not only plastic-free, they also score points for
their particularly high environmental friendliness. “Thanks to a unique
self-bonding mechanism, in which the filaments bond with each other during the
spinning process, binders, which are found in many nonwovens, are no longer
needed. As a result, the nonwovens produced with Lenzing Web Technology are 100
per cent biodegradable and do not pollute either humans or the environmentâ€Â, said Gert Kroner, Vice President Global
Research & Development of the Lenzing Group.
The
Austrian State Prize for Innovation is awarded annually by the Federal Ministry
for Digital and Economic Affairs to the most innovative Austrian company. In
2020, the competition took place for the 40th time.