Approved by curator
Added: Sep 11, 2021
Last edited: Sep 29, 2021
Located in Indonesia, the Asia Pacific Rayon’s (APR) textile mill produces 100% wood-based viscose staple fibre (VSF) for the textile industry. Responsible for the whole manufacturing process of VSF, from fibre plantations to production of viscose rayon, the company combines an efficient and technological manufacturing system with its commitment of sourcing 100% certified dissolving wood pulp by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Certified Biobased Product label.
Viscose is a type of man-made cellulosic fibres (MMCF) and its manufacturing process relies on the use of chemicals. Asia Pacific Rayon (APR) has incorporated circular and closed-loop approaches to tackle this issue, managing these chemicals responsibly through their recovery and reuse. According to APR, “We aim to prevent pollution in our manufacturing process through chemical recovery and emission control, as well as reuse and recycle materials and energy to minimise waste.”
Committed to zero discharge of hazardous chemicals through responsible chemical management and recovery, APR is aligning its performance with the European Union Best Available Techniques (EU BAT) and is also joining the ZDHC Foundation as a contributing member.
During the VSF production process, toxic chemicals such as caustic soda (NaOH) and carbon disulfide (CS₂) are used and hydrogen sulphide gas (H₂S) produced. To deal with this problem, the company has invested in state-of-the-art equipment such as Wet Sulphuric Acid (WSA) Plant and CS₂ Recovery System. Through these technologies, the loss of sulphur to the environment is reduced and the resulting products can be reused within the production system.
In addition, 90% of all energy used is from renewable resources and actions to reduce energy use have been successfully applied (Figures: in 2019 an average of 26.54 GJ/tonne VSF and, in 2020, an average of 25.06 GJ/tonne VSF).
Viscose is gaining more and more space in the textile market for presenting characteristics similar to the cotton fibre. Although VSF is derived from dissolving wood pulp (DWP), a natural and renewable feedstock, its production involves a lot of chemicals, heavily harmful to the environment specially when they are released in effluents. With an annual production volume of around 6.7 million metric tonnes (MT), MMCFs have a market share of around 6.2% of the total fibre production volume, after polyester at 52.5% and cotton at 23.7%1.
To meet the growing demand and fulfil the potential of viscose as a sustainable fibre of choice, actions that measure output indicators like wastewater, sludge, air emissions are fundamental for MMCF suppliers to achieve more sustainable viscose.
APR is committed to the responsible and clean manufacture of viscose staple fibre. In order to responsibly manage chemicals to reduce emissions, the company has set as one of its priorities to ensure that the management, use and recovery of chemicals such as carbon disulphide (CS2 ) and hydrogen sulphide (H2 S) comply with internationally recognised chemical management guidelines.
Committed to achieving a higher than 90% recovery rate of the chemicals used in the manufacturing of our VSF, since October 2019, APR has been a member of Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Foundation - a multi-stakeholder collaboration of global brands, chemical suppliers and manufacturers committed to drive the Roadmap to Zero Programme and reduce the industry’s chemical footprint.
Due to the company's efforts to invest in the latest high quality VSF production technology and to take a circular approach to minimise waste in its operations; APR is the first VSF manufacturer in Indonesia to receive STeP (Sustainable Leather and Textile Production) internationally recognised for OEKO-TEX® Certification.
Performance Highlights:
Average CS₂ Recovery Rate:
2019: 89,21%
2020: 87,67%
Total Sulphur Emission Intensity (kg per tonne VSF):
2019: 30.98
2020: 30.73
Process Water Consumption (m3 per tonne VSF):
2019: 49,97
2020: 42,74
Total Energy Intensity (GJ/tonne VSF):
2019: 26,54
2020: 25,06
Renewable Energy Source:
90% of APR’s energy is from renewable sources
Waste Intensity (kg/tonne VSF):
2019: 95,99
2020: 85,23
Water efficiency
Closed loop collection
Design for minimal waste
Design for resource efficiency
Design for reuse