London – The Finnish team behind making waste-cotton new has received the most
votes in H&M’s first . The conversion of
waste-cotton into new textiles will receive the highest grant of 300,000
euros after receiving 31 percent of the online vote.
“This prestigious grant will allow us to lift our technology closer to
an industrially viable level,” explains Michael Hummel, spokesperson for
the Finnish team behind Making waste-cotton new. “Now we will focus on the
further development of technical details, in particular, the solvent
recovery to ensure economic competitiveness and complete environmental
friendliness of our process.”
The Swedish fashion retailer received more than 22,500 online votes to
award the 1 million euro grant between the five winners it had selected
earlier this month. Taking a 250,000 euro grant in second place with 22
percent of the vote was the polyester digester, a US project that is using
microbes to recycle waste polyester textile.
The final three projects: an online market for textile leftovers for
industrial up-cycling of spill in production from Estonia; 100 percent
citrus, a new textile cut out of citrus juice production by-products from
Italy; and a growing textile fibre innovation from the Netherlands that
utilises algae to make renewable textile, will all receive 150,000 euro
grant each to help further develop their innovations.
Commenting on the awards, H&M Conscious Foundation board member and
chief executive officer of H&M, Karl-Johan Persson, said: “When the
application period closed, we sat with thousands of amazing ideas. So we
decided to create the Global Change Award Network. You can look at it as a
matchmaking site, where innovators can present their ideas, get feedback,
make contacts and maybe investors can even find the next big thing. A
digital greenhouse for innovative ideas.”
H&M received more than 2,700 innovative proposals from 112 countries as
part of its Global Change project to help close the loop for fashion. The
five winners will all take part in H&M’s ‘The Innovation Accelerator’
year-long scheme provided by H&M Conscious Foundation, Accenture and KTH
Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. The program will help
the winners develop their ideas, focusing on three main areas; circular
economy, innovation and fashion industry connection.
“The level of innovation that we have seen throughout this process is
truly inspiring and we aim to advance the strategic business growth of the
five Global Change Award winners by guiding and coaching them through the
Innovation Accelerator to develop their ideas further,” said Jennie Perzon
strategy program lead at Accenture.
Images: H&M Global Change awards