OEKO-TEX presented the first Sustainability Award to five companies from the textile and clothing industry during an evening event in Frankfurt/Germany.
The winners in the different categories are:
- Sung Hing Industries Holding Limited, China (Category Environmental Management)
- Mattes & Ammann GmbH & Co. KG, Germany (Category Social Responsibility)
- Veramtex S.A., Belgium (Category Safety Management)
- YKK Corporation, Japan (Category Quality Management)
- Lenzing AG, Austria (Category Product Innovation)
The Sustainability Award was created in 2012 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of OEKO-TEX. By the end of last year, over 80 companies from 22 countries worldwide and from all stages of the textile value chain had applied for the award, which is not endowed with any prize money.
The contenders cover the entire range of the textile industry – from a highly specialised finishing operation with only 12 employees, to a fully integrated shirt manufacturer with around 55,000 employees who houses all stages of production under one roof while also managing cotton cultivation and distribution of the products.
Two “OEKO-TEX Companies of the Month” were selected every month in the period between March 2012 and March 2013 – one company certified according to OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and one certified according to OEKO-TEX Standard 1000.
A common feature of all these companies is that they proactively meet the ecological and social challenges in their segment, and that they have implemented more sustainability with respect to their products and production conditions in an exemplary way.
15 of these Companies of the Month were then nominated for the Sustainability Award – three companies in each of the five categories. A jury with seven representatives of the OEKO-TEX Association, of NGOs, industry and research as well as associations and the trade press will select the winners of the award in the individual categories.
