The Lenzing Group has published a new sustainability report entitled, “Focus Sustainability – Taking Responsibility for Our Business.” The report focuses on fibers, the core segment of the Lenzing Group, which accounts for 90% of consolidated sales. For the first time, the contents of the report are geared to the standards contained in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). In Lenzing’s view it fulfills the requirements of Application Level B in accordance with GRI requirements. The new report is based on figures and information from the 2011 financial year and in part from 2012.

In the 2011/12 reporting period, Lenzing intensified its efforts to systematize its internal sustainability work. The objective of these activities was to expand the list of key indicators for ecological, economic and social sustainability criteria in order to improve the transparency of reporting. The Steering Committee for Sustainability spearheaded this initiative. This body consists of one Management Board member, the two heads of the business units Textile Fibers and Nonwoven Fibers as well as the heads of the two Corporate Centers, namely Safety, Health and Environment and Corporate Communications.

Lenzing is committed to the classical model of sustainability according to Brundtland, which considers sustainability in three dimensions: responsibility for the environment, responsibility for people, and responsibility for the economy.

For the first time, the Lenzing Group has committed itself (since November 2012) to voluntarily complying with specified environmental criteria. They are based on strict reference values defined by various international standards such as EU Ecolabel (”European Flower”). The Environmental Standards of the Lenzing Group apply to all its sites and regions, and are considered to be a yardstick according to which the future behavior of the company in the field of environmental protection will be oriented.

In addition, the report contains information from the value creation study commissioned by Lenzing and carried out by Professor Friedrich Schneider, Johannes Kepler University in Linz. The conclusions of the study confirm that the ongoing operations and investment activity of the Lenzing Group generate considerable value creation. On an accumulated basis, the activities of the Lenzing Group at its seven production sites in the year 2011 increased GDP by a total of over EUR 930 mn, and mass income rose by more than EUR 400 mn. Besides the jobs in the Lenzing Group itself, the company also secured or created more than 8,000 additional jobs.