Technology & Process

Man made cellulose fibres are manufactured from plant based raw materials. These currently span a variety of different end fibres that have various performance attributes and have been produced through various processing methods.

One man made cellulose fibre that has proven resource savings is TENCEL®. TENCEL® is the brand name used by Lenzing Fibers for their version of lyocell. Production is based on a revolutionary solvent spinning process. The unique closed-loop production process was the result of new demands placed on manufacturers for environmentally responsible products that utilised renewable resources as their raw materials.

It is the direct dissolution of the cellulose in an organic solvent without the formation of an intermediate compound that differentiates lyocell from other cellulosic fibres such as viscose. The closed-loop manufacturing process recovers >99.7% of the solvent. The solvent itself is non-toxic and all the effluent produced is non-hazardous. TENCEL® has all the benefits of being a cellulosic fibre, in that it is fully biodegradable and absorbent. It has high strength in both the wet and dry state and being a staple fibre it blends well with all other fibres types.

Image credit: Lenzing TENCEL® - Man made cellulose