Cematex, the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers, is pleased to announce that six finalists have been shortlisted from some 30 entries for its first Itma Sustainable Innovation Award. Three of the finalists are vying for the Itma Industry Excellence Award while the remaining three are competing for the Itma Research & Innovation (R&I) Excellence Award.
The Award recognises textile and garment manufacturers who have leveraged on technological innovations to advance business sustainability that benefit people, planet and profit. After much deliberation, the judges have picked the following three finalists who have worked closely with ITMA 2015 exhibitors to introduce innovative solutions to their production process or products:
Berto Industria Tessile was quick to recognise the economic and ecological advantages of the Matex Eco Applicator range by Itma exhibitor Monforts. They were the pioneer in adopting Monforts’ innovative technology, which enabled them to significantly reduce the amount of liquid needed in finishing denim fabrics, leading to energy savings and a huge reduction in waste water produced.
Gebrüder Otto implemented Mayer & Cie.’s spinitsystems to produce single jersey fabric using up to 35 per cent less energy compared to the conventional process. As a spinning mill, Gebrüder Otto produces the roving bobbins which are processed on the Spinit machines.
Levi Strauss & Co. has started preliminary development work in their Plock facility in Poland using the NoStone garment washing technology. Tonello’s NoStone technology provides Levi Strauss & Co. an important first step to solving an industry challenge to make denim finishing more sutainable, cost-effective and efficient.
The three finalists for the R&I Excellence Award – Masters are Jan Vincent Jordan from Institut Für Textiltechnik, RWTH Aachen University, Jenifer Schneidereit from Hochschule Niederrhein and Moniruddoza Ashir, Institute of Textile Machinery and High Performance Material Technology, TU Dresden.
The winners of the Itma Sustainable Innovation Award will be announced at the Itma 2015 Gala Dinner held at the La Pelota in Milan on 12 November. The winner of the Industry Excellence Award will receive a cash prize of 10,000 Euros and a trophy, among other rewards. A cash prize of 4,000 euros will be given to the winner of the R&I Excellence Award.
