Levi Strauss & Co. won the first ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award, clinching the ITMA Industry Excellence Award from two other finalists,BertoIndustriaTessile (Italy) and Gebrüder Otto (Germany). Receiving the award at the ITMA 2015 gala dinner on Nov 12, FrankyVangaever, R&D Product Researcher,Levi’s said, "We are very excited to be the first winner of the ITMA award. The success is a testimony of the strong collaboration of two iconic brands – Tonello and ourselves – in pursuit of industry sustainability."
Tonello's technology provided Levi’s an important first step to solving an industry challenge in denim finishing, Levi has started preliminary development work in their Plock facility in Poland, using the Tonello’sNoStone garment washing technology and avoiding the use of pumice stones, as those had environmental, economic and mechanical disadvantages.
Finalist BertoIndustriaTessile is a leading vertically integrated manufacturer of denim products. It leveraged on the Matex Eco Applicator range by ITMA exhibitor Monforts to significantly reduce the amount of liquid needed in finishing denim fabrics, leading to energy savings and a huge reduction in waste water produced.On the other hand, Gebrüder Otto, the other finalist, is a leading yarn manufacturer which implemented Mayer &Cie'sspinitsystems to produce single jersey fabric using up to 35 per cent less energy compared to the conventional process.
Charles Beauduin, President of CEMATEX, who was also on the Industry Excellence Award judging panel, said, "The ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award celebrates the successful collaboration between technology providers and industry users. With both parties working closely together, innovative, yet practical solutions that positively impact the environment and business bottom line can be created. Hence, we hope to continue to encourage more of such industry collaborations.”
For the R&I Excellence Award – Masters category, Jan Vincent Jordan, InstitutFürTextiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University has been announced as the winner.The two other finalists were; Jenifer Schneidereit, HochschuleNiederrhein for her Master's Thesis: 'Sustainable Water Use in Textile Wet Processing: Development of a List of Improvement Measures for a Self-Assessment Tool for Factories', and MoniruddozaAshir, Institute of Textile Machinery and High Performance Material Technology, TU Dresden, for his Master's Thesis: 'Development of Hybrid Woven Structures for Lightweight Applications'.
