Lenzing's Heiligenkreuz Site Celebrates Production Of One Million Tonnes Of Wood-Based Biodegradable Lyocell Fibres
25-year success story at Heiligenkreuz site in Burgenland
Lenzing reaches milestone of 1 million tons of sustainably produced lyocell fibers
Vital contribution to the strategy and corporate success of the Lenzing Group
Heiligenkreuz – The Lenzing Group, a world-leading provider of wood-based specialty fibers for the global textile and nonwoven industries, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its site in Heiligenkreuz, Burgenland on June 08, 2022.
Since its launch in 1997, the lyocell plant has contributed hugely to the success of the Lenzing Group.
The site is also celebrating the successful production of one million tons of wood-based, biodegradable lyocell fibers.
Stephan Sielaff, CEO of the Lenzing Group, and Bernd Zauner, managing director of Lenzing Fibers Heiligenkreuz, were pleased to welcome staff and numerous guests of honor including Hans Peter Doskozil, governor of Burgenland, Georg Rosner, member and 2nd president of the Burgenland State Parliament, and Manfred Gerger, chairman of the Burgenland branch of the Federation of Austrian Industries.
“We are very proud of the milestones we have achieved. The Heiligenkreuz site has become a highly important part of the Lenzing Group and plays a crucial role in the implementation of our specialty fiber strategy. We would like to give special thanks to our staff for their commitment and tireless input. Together, we will continue to lead the transition from a linear to a circular economy model in the global textile and nonwoven industries in the future,” says Stephan Sielaff, CEO of Lenzing AG.
“Since we began producing environmentally-friendly lyocell fibers at this site 25 years ago, we have expanded the facility to make it one of the largest industrial employers in southern Burgenland. This anniversary and the production of one million tons of lyocell fibers are major milestones in our success story and represent a huge boost to growth and innovation in southern Burgenland,” says Bernd Zauner, managing director of Lenzing Fibers Heiligenkreuz.
Pollution of the environment – especially our oceans – is one of the biggest problems of our time.
The fashion industry has an extremely negative impact on the environment due to its fast fashion business model and the growing consumption of fossil resources in textile production.
The lyocell process is the most modern method of producing fibers from wood. It has been successfully used on an industrial scale for around 30 years and is particularly kind to the environment.
The underlying idea is to dissolve and process the pulp in a closed loop without any chemical derivatization.
Lenzing first discovered the lyocell technology in 1990 and has continuously developed the process since then.
After years of preparatory research and the construction of a pilot facility, the first lyocell production plant to operate on an industrial scale was launched at the new site in Heiligenkreuz in 1997.
Nowadays, as well as producing specialty fibers, the site at Heiligenkreuz has evolved to become a central hub for the development of new and sustainable innovations.
One of Lenzing’s revolutionary processes is the REFIBRA™ recycling technology, which has been a focus of further development at the facility in the Burgenland region.
The lyocell plant in Heiligenkreuz also supports the Lenzing Group’s ambitious climate targets.
In 2019, the Lenzing Group became the first company in its sector to set the strategic goal of halving its greenhouse gas emissions per ton of product by 2030.
By 2050, the Group aims to achieve a carbon-neutral future, a target that has been scientifically recognized by the Science Based Targets Initiative.
Shanghai, China – August 2026 – Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Autumn Edition 2026 is set to open its doors on 25 August at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), welcoming thousands of global industry players across three days of sourcing, networking, and trend forecasting.
Spanning 240,000 sqm, the edition will feature over 3,500 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions, organised under four key pillars: Fashion Forward, Performance Textiles, Sustainability, and Textile Future.
From 27 September 2026, stricter rules against greenwashing and higher requirements for sustainability labels will take effect in the European Union.
OEKO-TEX® has taken the new provisions as an occasion to further develop its governance structure.
In doing so, OEKO-TEX® not only meets the requirements of the EU Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (EmpCo, EU 2024/825) but also prepares itself for future regulatory developments.
Munich, Germany – August 2026 – PERFORMANCE DAYS is set to premiere the Sustainability Exchange at its upcoming trade fair, taking place 13–14 October 2026 in Munich.
The new dedicated space brings together leading voices across certification, compliance, circularity, and collaboration to help industry professionals translate complex sustainability challenges into practical solutions.
New Delhi, India – August 2026 – IKEA, the global home furnishing retailer, has announced its partnership with the Regenerative Cotton Accelerator Programme (RCAP) as a strategic member.
The partnership will see IKEA join RCAP's Steering Group, contributing its cotton sourcing and supply chain expertise to accelerate the adoption of regenerative cotton across India.
Launched in February 2026, RCAP is a joint initiative by Solidaridad Asia, WWF-India, Regenagri and Control Union..
The invention, a dark adsorbent material that can be added to wastewater and separated with a magnet, builds on the team’s 2022 breakthrough in microplastics removal, extending performance to much smaller particles and more complex wastewater.
Microplastics are an increasing global concern, with growing evidence of their presence in water systems.
The researchers say the ability to remove micro‑ and nano‑plastics under practical conditions sets this work apart.
Winterthur – Switzerland - July, 2026 – Recycling Powerhouse Ltd. was established in July 2026 to industrialize, standardize and scale textile recycling.
Based in Switzerland, the venture will operate a franchise-driven business model that enables the production of high-quality, certified recycled yarns.
The project is supported by the following partners: Rieter Group, the world’s leading system supplier for natural and man-made fibers, Säntis Textiles, a Swiss textile engineering company, and Valvan, a Belgian sorting technology company.
Singapore, July 2026 – DyStar, a leading specialty chemicals company with more than a century of expertise in product development and innovation, today announced the release of its FY2025 Sustainability Report, marking a significant milestone in its sustainability journey and reinforcing its commitment to long-term value creation
Germany, France and the Netherlands are advocating coordinated European action against ultra-fast fashion.
The three Member States raised the topic at today’s EU Environment Council in Luxembourg, and called on the European Commission to make existing and planned EU provisions more effective against short-lived, low quality textiles.
Their call was supported by other Member States, including Slovenia and Denmark.
LONDON, June 11: Textile Exchange has published its new polyester Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, providing robust, accurate, and credible data to strengthen the fashion, textile, and apparel industry’s understanding of the impacts of different types of polyester production.
The study is the second in a series of LCA studies led by Textile Exchange and addresses key gaps and limitations in the LCA data currently available for polyester.
Widnes, Cheshire - 5 June 2026 – On World Environment Day, Roberts Group International has announced a pioneering partnership with St Helens Council, Seamster & Shepherd, and Hope Academy.
The initiative, titled Hope for the Earth: From Reclaimed Textiles to Sustainable Student Fashion Show, empowers students to transform reclaimed textiles into original fashion pieces ahead of a summer showcase event in July.
The collaborative project addresses the urgent need for circularity in the fashion industry by bringing the sustainability message directly into the classroom.
Shenzhen, June 2026 – To address the urgent need for sustainable practices and digital transformation within the global fashion industry, the Intertextile Shenzhen Apparel Fabrics and Yarn Expo Shenzhen will return from 9 to 11 June 2026.
Held at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, the event will host over 600 international exhibitors across 45,000 square metres.
The innovative washing process SMART WASH represents a modern, high-performance, and environmentally conscious approach to textile care.
The targeted combination of the products BEIPLEX GREEN, BEICLEAN ECO, BEIPUR ANP, BEIBLEACH WP 35, and BEIACID CIT creates a holistic, sustainable washing and bleaching concept.
Stuttgart, Germany – May 2026 - Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certification continued to grow in 2025, with nearly 18,000 certified facilities worldwide, despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and rapidly evolving regulatory requirements across global textile supply chains.
New figures released today in the 2025 Annual Report for Global Standard, the nonprofit that owns and operates GOTS, show that uptake of robust, independently governed sustainability standards remains a priority for companies seeking to manage risk, substantiate claims and meet rising expectations on transparency and due diligence.
Kyocera Document Solutions has highlighted its FOREARTH, a pioneering water-free textile production concept designed to drastically reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
By addressing the critical need for sustainable manufacturing, this innovation sets a new standard for the textile industry, minimising environmental impact while streamlining the entire printing process.
ECCO, in partnership with Spinnova, announces the launch of the limited edition ECCO BIOM® 720, a first-of-its-kind shoe utilising an often overlooked leather by-product, transformed into a protein-based fibre.
The fibres are produced using patented technology that advances material innovation while reducing waste and supporting full resource use across the leather and textile industry.
Newark - Delaware - May 2026 – The global digital textile printing market is set for a substantial transformation, having crossed a valuation of USD 6.1 billion in 2025.
According to recent market forecasts by FMI, the sector is projected to surpass USD 6.6 billion in 2026, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 7.7 per cent.
Driven by the urgent need for sustainable production and fast fashion customisation, the market is on track to reach a total valuation of USD 13.9 billion by 2036.
Cagliari - Italy – May 2026 – To address the escalating crisis of water scarcity in the Mediterranean basin, the Interreg NEXT MED Programme has officially announced the launch of the SWAMED project.
This international initiative introduces smarter irrigation systems and modern agricultural technology to farming communities across the region. By deploying innovative, data-driven solutions, the project seeks to safeguard the future of agriculture in areas where every drop of water is critical for survival and economic stability.
The SWAMED project is spearheaded by the Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" in Italy, operating in close collaboration with a strategic coalition of partners from Tunisia, Egypt, Greece, and Türkiye.
Washington DC - 24 April 2026 – The Bezos Earth Fund has announced a $34 million commitment to advance breakthrough sustainable materials for the global fashion and textile industry.
Working with leading scientists across the United States, these new grants aim to reinvent the fabrics used in everyday clothing, focusing on next-generation materials that replicate the feel of rayon, silk, and cotton while drastically improving upon the environmental impact of conventional manufacturing.
ISTANBUL, Türkiye – April 2026 – In a critical step towards securing a sustainable and ethical future for the global textile industry, Textile Exchange and the Organic Cotton Accelerator have officially announced the comprehensive agenda for the upcoming Organic Cotton Summit.
This vital industry event is scheduled to take place from the 2nd to the 4th of June 2026 at the Istanbul Marriott Hotel Sisli in Türkiye.
By bringing together global stakeholders, the summit aims to urgently address the pressing challenges facing agricultural supply chains and to build organic cotton systems that are resilient, fair, and economically viable for all participants.
Manchester, UK – April 2026 – John Hogg Technical Solutions has announced a strategic minority equity investment in SwitchDye Limited, a University of Leeds spin-out.
This vital partnership aims to rapidly scale SwitchDye's pioneering CO2-responsive, drop-in dyeing system, answering the urgent industry need to significantly reduce chemical intensity, energy use, and water consumption in the dyeing of polyester and other synthetic fibres.
April 2026 - As sustainability expectations rise across the fashion industry, Lectra has announced the publication of a new document aimed at helping brands reduce their environmental impact while remaining competitive.
The newly released insights detail how fashion brands can overcome the four main barriers to sustainable product development, providing the necessary data clarity to make better, environmentally conscious decisions.
London - April 2026 – In a decisive response to the escalating global need for urgent climate action, Ricoh today announced a comprehensive revision of its environmental, social, and governance targets.
Launched as a cornerstone of its fiscal 2026 mid-term strategy, the company is significantly accelerating its efforts to realise a decarbonised society.
By raising its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and renewable energy adoption targets, Ricoh is firmly linking sustainable innovation with its global business operations to lead the industry toward a greener future.
The organisation has elevated its fiscal 2030 target for reducing Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions from 63 percent to 75 percent, compared with fiscal 2015 levels.
Zhanjiang, China - 26 March 2026 – BASF today announced the official inauguration of its state-of-the-art Verbund production site in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province.
Covering four square kilometres, this €8.7 billion facility represents a paradigm shift in sustainable chemical manufacturing.
Fully powered by renewable electricity, the site reinforces BASF’s market position in China whilst addressing the urgent global need for decarbonised industrial processes.
Employing over 2,000 people, the Zhanjiang site produces a highly diversified portfolio of basic chemicals, intermediates, and speciality chemicals.
Stockholm – Sweden – March 2026 – The H&M Foundation has announced the launch of a practical, open-source workshop toolkit designed to help organisations across the textile industry apply its innovative System Map.
Introduced earlier in 2024, the System Map is a visual framework that reimagines the fashion industry as an interconnected ecosystem.
Now, this comprehensive toolkit empowers brands, suppliers, policymakers, and investors to turn systemic insights into actionable strategies, identifying crucial leverage points to halve greenhouse gas emissions every decade until 2050 while enabling a just transition.
March 21st 2026 – To mark the International Day of Forests, Lenzing Group has announced its continued and unwavering dedication to global forest conservation and ecological resilience.
As the world faces unprecedented environmental challenges, the company is taking decisive action to ensure that the preservation of healthy forests remains firmly embedded in its sourcing strategy and product innovations.
San Francisco – March 2026– The Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) has today announced the launch of its innovative Energy and Carbon Benchmark.
This vital new tool is designed to provide fashion brands and their global suppliers with a unified reference point for measuring energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across textile manufacturing facilities worldwide.
London – March 2026 – The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) has announced a new collaboration with global non-profit the Soil Health Institute (SHI) and national ag-tech provider Growers Guide to support cotton producers across the United States in strengthening their soil conservation practices.
The partnership will fund intensive on-farm data collection to equip producers with actionable, data-driven insights aimed at improving soil health and reducing chemical inputs.
Amsterdam - March 2026 - Sappi Europe, a leading provider of sustainable paper and packaging solutions, represented the company at this year's AWA Global Release Liner Summit in Amsterdam.
Under the theme of "Innovation and Sustainability," Sappi's Director of Sustainability Sarah Price and Manager of Technology & Development Wolfgang Hoffmann led a well-received session titled "Navigating Sustainability: Accelerating Together."
Nottingham, UK - 6 March 2026 – Worn Again Technologies has announced the start-up of its Textile-to-Fibre Accelerator plant in Winterthur, Switzerland, marking a major step towards commercialising its chemical recycling technology.
The facility provides real-world validation of a process designed to recover and regenerate polyester and cellulose from end-of-life textiles, proving the technical and economic feasibility of polycotton recycling at scale.
Oban – Scotland – February 2026 - OCEANIUM has highlighted OCEAN INK®, the world's first fully biodegradable, water-based ink derived from sustainably farmed seaweed.
This groundbreaking innovation is poised to transform the luxury textile, printing, and packaging industries by offering an eco-friendly alternative to conventional harmful inks.
As industries worldwide face mounting pressure to adopt sustainable practices, OCEAN INK® addresses a critical gap in the market.
Colour Is Too Important to Leave to Chance
Print will always be the part of the garment people see first.
But the sum of all parts — the fabric, the trims, the fasteners, the finish — is what determines whether a design actually delivers on its promise. Brands that continue to treat colour as a single creative decision, rather than a coordinated technical discipline spanning their entire supply chain, will keep paying for it in re-dips, delays, and disappointed design teams.
A Century of Textiles, and an Ever-changing World
Few companies can trace their roots back more than a century and still count themselves among their industry's innovators. Texia, headquartered in Monistrol de Montserrat, Spain, is one of them.
But the story of Texia is not simply one of longevity.
It is a story of continual reinvention. As the textile industry has grown more global and competitive, Texia has repeatedly reshaped its business, investing in technology, developing its own brands, and placing sustainability at the centre of its mission. In doing so, it offers a compelling example of how a heritage manufacturer can lead rather than follow through a period of profound industry change. Image Credit: Texia
What are we craving Ultimately?
The instinct to slow down while simultaneously optimising every measurable aspect of life isn't a passing curiosity. It's a structural response to a world that feels increasingly unstable, and it's reshaping what people expect from their homes, hotels, workplaces and healthcare environments alike.
For the design and manufacturing sectors, this means rethinking both product and process.
The Structual Shift is Real and its Already Here
Volumes are moving east, where digital production is accelerating rapidly. Consumer behaviour has shifted.
Demand is now driven by personalisation, shorter buying cycles, and an expectation of near-instant responsiveness. Regulatory pressure is intensifying, with supply chain transparency now a legal and commercial fact in many markets. And margins? They are under sustained, structural pressure.
This is not a temporary disruption. It is a fundamental reordering of how textile manufacturing must operate.
The Challenge: Standing Firm as the Industry Shifts
The wallpaper landscape has changed dramatically. Digital printing has lowered the barrier to entry, spawning countless direct-to-consumer brands and pushing much of the market towards faster, cheaper production.
At the same time, manufacturing in the UK has grown steadily harder - rising minimum wage, national insurance, energy and substrate costs all bear down on margins. Surface Print have embraced all of these challenges - and stand resolutely prepared for the future.
From Helsinki's printing mill to Paris's Le Marais, discover how Marimekko is scaling a design-led brand with purpose, craft, and bold innovation.
But what makes Marimekko's story compelling is not just its aesthetic legacy?
The word "toxic" carries weight. It conjures danger, harm, and things best avoided.
“Yet in the textile industry - Where between 3,000 and 10,000 chemicals move through the supply chain, a reflexive fear of the term is one of our biggest obstacles to progress.”
This article distils the key takeaways and what buyers, designers, and brands should be asking right now.
What Is the Digital Product Passport?
At its core, a Digital Product Passport is a digital record attached to a physical product - For a printed textile product, this means the DPP would capture data on the substrate, inks and dyes used, the printing process and technology, chemical compliance, environmental impact (including water and energy use), supply chain traceability, and end-of-life instructions.
The Market Gap that Changed Everything
Future Fashion was founded in 2019, timed deliberately to coincide with a pivotal moment in global textile technology: the commercial launch of the EFI Reggiani BOLT Single-Pass digital printing system.
The founders recognised that single-pass architecture had fundamentally changed what was industrially possible - and that Pakistan's domestic market had yet to catch up.
Print is no longer defined by the inefficiencies that once characterised it…as advances in production processes and technology have significantly improved its environmental performance.
Taran Rai, Corporate Sustainability Manager at Epson explains why?
The story of what happens when young designers access digital technology is still being written.
What once was a theoretical sustainability goal seems to have shifted into an active regulatory reality.
Is the Textile Market Finally Recovering?
After a difficult few years, there are genuine reasons for optimism. Duncan was candid about the challenges: "The market for textiles has been very difficult over the last three years. I'm not going to hide the truth there. But the tide is turning.“
A profound shift is currently reshaping the sector
Changing consumer expectations demand greater design diversity, faster turnaround times, and sustainable manufacturing practices.
To thrive, interior brands must adapt their supply chains, bringing production closer to the end consumer and moving away from bulk manufacturing.
Digital textile printing offers a definitive solution to these operational bottlenecks.
Digital transformation doesn't announce itself.
It accumulates - one innovation at a time - until an entire industry looks back and realises the ground has shifted beneath its feet. That's precisely where textiles stands today.
The conversations happening now about AI, automation, sustainability, and digital product passports are not theoretical. They are shaping decisions being made on factory floors and in boardrooms right now.
“By leveraging advanced digital textile printing, Marylene Madou has successfully merged traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology. Her approach offers a blueprint for how independent designers can scale their brands globally while maintaining a minimal environmental footprint.”
The textile industry is undergoing a vital transformation. As the insights from Techtextil and Texprocess reveal, the path forward relies on a combination of sustainable hardware, intelligent chemistry, and seamless digital workflows.
From Zimmer's industrial-scale energy reductions and Stratasys's on-demand 3D embellishments, to Kornit's single-step technical printing and the unified digital ecosystems of NedGraphics and Optitex, the tools for change are here. To stay competitive, brands and manufacturers must adopt these innovations, moving away from fragmented, wasteful processes towards a truly connected, circular economy.
Friedmans stands as a testament to the power of combining traditional textile knowledge with forward-thinking innovation.
“Operating from their UK headquarters, Friedmans now serves a diverse array of sectors, including swimwear, dance, entertainment, sportswear, interior decor, prosthetics, and even pet apparel. With a strategic supply chain that reliably serves clients worldwide”
The apparel decoration industry is decisively moving away from isolated, analogue production tools toward connected digital manufacturing environments.
"Kornit’s unwavering commitment to transformative technology continues to disrupt the status quo. For business leaders and innovators ready to capture the future of apparel manufacturing, the path forward is clear”
The Urgent Need for Sustainability at Scale
The transformation at Coats provides a vital blueprint for the wider textile and apparel sector. True sustainability cannot be achieved in silos. As Dearing emphasised:
“Cross-industry collaboration is the engine of meaningful change. Brands, machinery suppliers, chemical providers, and fibre producers must act as an interconnected ecosystem”
Today’s customers demand superior product quality, real-time data visibility, and lightning-fast turnaround times.
For large-scale garment decorators, managing these expectations while balancing seasonal demand fluctuations - such as the massive surges seen during Black Friday - presents a monumental challenge.
"Relying on transactional vendor relationships and outdated legacy equipment is no longer sufficient to secure long-term stability and growth.”
Printing method is never a secondary detail. It shapes the entire life cycle of a product, from concept to customer. In today’s fashion industry, where margins are tighter and speed matters more than ever, technical knowledge has become a competitive advantage.
“The future of textile design belongs to professionals who can combine creativity with execution, aesthetics with practicality, and vision with production reality”.