At the ITMF Annual Conference 2023 which concluded on October 6^th in Keqiao, China, a number of companies were recognised with awards for projects in the areas of Sustainability and Innovation and International Cooperation.

Winners in the former category included three companies from China – Qingdao Jifa Group for its work on the supercritical CO2-assisted dyeing of polyester, Qingdao University for a project on marine bio-based fibres, and Winner Medical for its development of biodegradable nanofibre face masks.

Also receiving recognition was Spain’s University Polytechnic of Barcelona, which is involved in turning clothing and textile waste into new building materials, and Germany’s UPM Biorefining, which is producing new biomaterials.

In the International Cooperation category, awards went to Germany’s Kelheim Fibres and Santoni of Italy for their project on advanced knitting techniques with viscose, and to Austria’s Lenzing, which has partnered with Sweden’s Södra to accelerate the production of new circular cellulosic fibres.

Further awards went to Magnolab, a new textile hub in the Biella region of Italy, Germany’s     Satori for its work in accelerating the international growth of fabric mills via B2B e-commerce, and to China’s STAR Network Asia, which has launched a sustainable terms of trade initiative aimed at improving purchasing practices.

Six companies also received ITMF Start-up Awards – CarboScreen of Germany, Cebiotex of Spain, the UK’s Colorifix, Rheiazymes AG of Switzerland, China’s Shaoxing Qian Yong Textile and TreeToTextile of Sweden.

The objective of the ITMF Awards is to recognise sustainable and innovative achievements in the textile industry, with a focus on innovation, design, development and production under the strictest standards of sustainability and respect for the environment.

The ITMF 2023 conference was co-hosted by the China National Textile and Apparel and Council (CNTAC) and Shaoxing Municipal People’s Government.

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