Global : Global Change Award winners set for €1 mn bonanza

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Global Change Award winners set for €1 mn bonanza

03
Feb '16

The five winners of the first ever Global Change Award have been selected by the expert jury. The ideas range from creating new textile out of citrus juice by-products and an online marketplace for recycling of textile leftovers to using microbes to recycle waste polyester. Now, the global public has been asked to allocate the €1 million grant between the winners in an online vote that began on February 1 at globalchangeaward.com, Swedish clothing multinational H&M said in a press release.

The Global Change Award was introduced in August by the non-profit H&M Conscious Foundation, and is the first challenge for early stage innovation in the fashion industry. By catalysing bold, pioneering ideas the overall goal is to protect the planet by closing the loop for fashion.

“The response of the first Global Change Award is overwhelming. Over 2,700 innovators from 112 countries shared their ideas to help close the loop for fashion. The winning innovations are important contributions in the journey towards a circular fashion industry. Now, we invite the public to use their voice and influence how much funding each idea should get,” says Karl-Johan Persson, board member of the H&M Conscious Foundation and CEO of H&M.

The votes will have a real impact as they determine how the one million euro grant will be distributed. The idea that gets the most votes receives 300,000 euros, second most votes receives 250,000 euros and third, fourth and fifth most votes receive 150,000 euros each. Everyone can vote at globalchangeaward.com till February 7. The voting result and the people behind the winning innovations will be revealed at a grand award ceremony in Stockholm on February 10, and on globalchangeaward.com on February 11.

“The Global Change Award rewards truly out-of-the-box thinking in utilizing advanced technological approaches to make the fashion industry more sustainable – for example, creating less environmental waste and using less energy – while making fashion products that are even more appealing. In this sense, the five winning innovations all have the potential to be truly game-changing,” said Ellis Rubinstein, President and CEO, The New York Academy of Sciences and member of the Global Change Award jury. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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