At the ITMF Annual Conference 2023 which was held from November 4-6, 2023, in Keqiao, China and co- hosted by the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) and the Shaoxing Municipal People’s Government, ITMF presented for the second time the ITMF Awards in the categories “Sustainability & Innovation” and “International Cooperation”.
The objective of the ITMF Sustainability & Innovation Award is to recognize sustainable and innovative achievements in the textile industry with focus on innovation, design, development, and production under the strictest standards of sustainability and respect for the environment.
The objective of the ITMF International Cooperation Award is to recognize progress in the area of international collaboration in the textile industry according to the values of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It also illustrates how collaboration efforts across borders and segments create win-win-situations.
An international jury has selected the following winners of the ITMF Awards 2023 (alphabetical order):
ITMF Sustainability & Innovation Award 2023
– Qingdao Jifa Group (China)
Project: Supercritical CO2 Assisted Dyeing of Polyester
– Qingdao University (China)
Project: Marine Bio-Based Fibres
– Universitat Politechnica de Catalonia (Spain)
Project: Upcycling Fibres of Clothing & Textile Waste to Building Materials
– UPM Biorefining (Germany)
Project: The Future of Fabrics with Renewable Materials – How UPM and VAUDE Think Beyond Recycling
– Winner Medical (China)
Project: Biodegradable Nanofiber Masks
ITMF International Cooperation Award 2023
– Kelheim Fibres (Germany) & Santoni (Italy)
Project: Advanced Machine Technology Meets Performance Viscose Fibres
– Lenzing (Austria) & Södra (Sweden)
Project: Enabling the Circular Textile Industry Together
– Magnolab (Italy)
Project: Setting up a Textile Innovation District
– Satori (Germany)
Project: B2B E-commerce – Accelerating International Growth for Fabric Mills
– Sustainable Terms of Trade Initiative (STAR Network Asia)
Project: Improving Purchasing Practices
Winners of the ITMF Start-up Award 2023
At the ITMF Annual Conference 2023 which concluded today in Keqiao, China and was co-
hosted by the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) and Shaoxing Municipal
People’s Government, the ITMF Start-up Awards were granted for the second time.
The objective of the ITMF Start-up Awards is to bring together start-ups with innovative
product and/or service innovations with well-established companies from the textile value
chain.
In 2023, the ITMF Start-up Awards were granted to six start-ups. Next to an innovative
business idea, the criteria applied by an international expert jury comprised aspects like
criteria for business propositions, criteria related to sustainability, recyclability, or
digitalization as well qualitative efficiency.
The winners presented their business ideas in a special “Start-up Session” during the ITMF
Annual Conference 2023.
The winners of the ITMF Start-up Award 2023 are (in alphabetical order):
CarboScreen (Germany)
Presentation: CarboScreen – Online Monitoring of Carbon Fiber Manufacturing
Cebiotex S.L. (Spain)
Presentation: Biocompatible and Biodegradable Implant Matrix
Colorifix (UK)
Presentation: Biological Dyeing: How Is It Greener?
Rheiazymes AG (Switzerland)
Presentation: Molecular Bio-Recycling preserving high-value polymers
Shaoxing Qian Yong Textile Co. (China)
Presentation: Exploration and Practice of SMEs in Textile Digital Printing Industry
TreeToTextile AB (Sweden)
Presentation: A New Biobased Fiber with Low Climate Impact
Content credit ITMF
