California Apparel News

Austrian fiber maker Lenzing introduced a range of its Modal fiber in spun-dye colors, which reduces the environmental impact associated with traditional dyed techniques.

Lenzing Modal Color is available in black, red, blue, brown and beige. A wider range of shades can be achieved with cross-dyeing.

By embedding color pigments directly in the fiber, fabrics made with Lenzing Modal Color use up to 80 percent less energy and 75 percent less water (in jet dyeing) compared with traditional dyeing, according to the company. In addition, Lenzing Modal Colors are colorfast, even after repeated washing.

Lenzing Modal is produced using Lenzing’s eco-friendly Edelweiss Technology. Produced in Austria from Austrian beechwood pulp, Lenzing Modal is carbon neutral, according to a 2008 lifecycle assessment of Lenzing fibers conducted by the University Utrecht in the Netherlands.

Plus, up to 95 percent of processing chemicals are recovered during the Lenzing Modal production process.

“We wanted to produce Lenzing Modal as an eco-friendly cellulose fiber and point out that particularly this fiber produced in Austria is produced to the best of our knowledge and belief and basically differs from other Modal fibers,” said Dieter Eichinger, vice president of Lenzing’s textile business unit.

Lenzing Modal’s entire production process, from pulp to fiber, is conducted at Lenzing’s Austrian plant, enabling the company to recover and reuse excess energy and wood substances. Pulp production at Lenzing is “energy self-sufficient” and generates energy for the entire Modal production process. Currently, about half of the pulp for Lenzing Modal is bleached with oxygen. The company eventually plans to have all pulp bleached in this manner.

“We are proud that Lenzing Modal is CO2 neutral. Born from our desire to produce in an increasingly eco-friendly manner, we have developed proprietary production techniques. We have become pioneers in the design of wood organic refineries,” Eichinger said. “This combination makes Lenzing Modal unique. Where else can you find Modal production which uses beechwood and operates in an energy self-sufficient manner, recovering 95 percent of the chemicals required in the process?”

To further highlight its eco-friendly production, Lenzing recently changed its positioning for Lenzing Modal. The previous slogan, “Makes the World a Softer Place,” has been changed to “CO2 Neutral Softness by Edelweiss Technology.”

“Lenzing Modal is much more than just simply soft,” said Lenzing Marketing Director Andreas Dorner. “We wish to pay tribute to this fact and reposition the Lenzing Modal brand. Expanding the fiber’s image from softness to eco-friendliness mirrors the changes in the demands from the marketplace. Today, customers not only seek a high-quality product, they want to be sure that it was produced in a fair and eco-friendly way.”

In addition to Lenzing Modal, the company also produces Tencel. For more information, visit www.lenzing.com.