All Lenzing production units are located in regions with high water availability, so no operations take place in water stress areas. Nevertheless, the objective of water management at Lenzing is to recycle and reuse as much water as possible. For example, the Paskov pulp plant (Czech Republic) has a closed-loop cooling water system and therefore requires little make-up water to compensate for losses. Furthermore, integrated pulp and fiber production saves water by skipping the process of drying and re-moistening market pulp. Pulp and fiber production facilities obtain water from adjacent water bodies (mainly rivers and groundwater) and municipal local suppliers. During manufacturing, water serves as a cooling and process agent.
|
2014 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
All areas |
|
||||
Surface water |
103,000 |
87,954 |
82,359 |
87,029 |
||
freshwater |
0 |
87,954 |
82,359 |
87,029 |
||
other water |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Groundwater |
14,000 |
14,002 |
12,730 |
12,980 |
||
freshwater |
0 |
14,002 |
12,730 |
12,980 |
||
other water |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Seawater |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
freshwater |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
other water |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Produced water |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
freshwater |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
other water |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Third-party water |
0 |
7,185 |
6,849 |
6,726 |
||
freshwater |
0 |
7,185 |
6,849 |
6,726 |
||
other water |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
Total water withdrawal |
117,000 |
109,141 |
101,938 |
106,735 |
||
|
||||||
Lenzing not only resumes full-scale operations after a pandemic hit global supply chains a year before, but also continues to expand production of specialty fiber products. Thus, water use and water consumptions went back to typical levels and the trajectory for continuously decreasing specific water use has been met again (tables "Water withdrawal", "Specific water use in the Lenzing Group" and "Water discharge").
|
2014 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Specific water intake/extracted |
100 % |
92.9 % |
96.2 % |
90.2 % |
||
|
||||||
The spinning bath in the lyocell process contains water and the solvent NMMO to dissolve the cellulose polymer prior to spinning. In the viscose process, a mix of process chemicals and water is used. In both production technologies water is recycled by separating it from process chemicals and/or solvents with very high efficiency. This is the state-of-the-art technology at all Lenzing facilities. It enables water to be saved and to provide optimal pre-treatment for water discharge, as well as to optimize fiber properties and quality. Thanks to the recovery systems, Lenzing gains marketable co-products and reusable process chemicals. A final wastewater treatment reduces effluent charge, aiming to avoid potential harms to receiving water bodies by exceeding local quality requirements.
|
2014 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Water discharged by destination (in megaliters) |
|
|
|
|
Surface water |
|
40,026 |
39,008 |
40,860 |
Groundwater |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
Seawater |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
Third-party water |
|
59,198 |
57,779 |
57,133 |
of this amount third-party water sent for use to other organizations |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
Water discharged by water quality |
|
|
|
|
Freshwater (≤1,000 mg/L Total Dissolved Solids) |
|
69,802 |
67,673 |
69,772 |
Other water (>1,000 mg/L Total Dissolved Solids) |
|
29,422 |
29,114 |
28,222 |
Total water discharged |
108,000 |
99,224 |
96,787 |
97,993 |
Substantial amounts of water are consumed by the inherent moisture uptake of cellulosic fibers and the evaporization in the cooling process. The lyocell process requires less water than the viscose fiber production. The expansion plans of Lenzing in lyocell fibers will further reduce the Lenzing Group’s specific water consumption in the medium-term.
