Manmade fibre industry, which is witnessing an increasing demand for sustainable products, is likely to use wood pulp (a renewable source) as the main raw material for manmade cellulosic in the coming years.
Speaking to Fibre2Fashion, Mr. Friedrich Weninger, Member of the Board/Chief Operation Officer of Lenzing Group said, “Consumers buy eco-friendly products, e.g. hang tags, because it is made of organic cotton or manmade cellulosics. Manmade cellulosics (viscose) is the ecological answer in our industry to the rising fibre demand.”
“Due to high wearing comfort, the manmade cellulosics will show an even more dynamic annual growth rate in this decade of about 9 percent. They have the great advantage of using the renewable source wood pulp as raw material,” he adds.
Among all manmade fibres, cellulosic staple fibres are the greenest. They are the product of vegetable world just like cotton and match cotton characteristics of hygiene, moisture and absorbency with further advantages of uniformity, cleanliness, drape and luster. It is more biodegradable than cotton, according to Mr. Ajay Sardana, Asst. Vice President – Customer and Market Intelligence, Birla Cellulose.
He further adds, “Use of viscose staple fibre will increase in the future and it is growing at the highest rate among all major staple fibres, and the same trend is to continue going forward.”
It can be run on all types of technologies like ring, open end, and air jet due to its natural advantages of being soft and clean fibre, he says.
Adding on, he states that viscose fibre is the best fit for western wear and women’s work wear because of its properties.