The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) has won the 2023 Just Style Excellence Award in the Environmental and Innovation categories, which recognised its efforts to develop new materials and improve the textile production process through sustainability measures and research. The Just Style Excellence Awards is an independent recognition programme powered by the business intelligence of GlobalData to recognise forward- thinking, innovative companies that drive positive change in the industry.

Two of HKRITA's projects, the Green Machine and Absorboost, were honoured by the World Changing Ideas Awards. The Green Machine, a separation solution for cotton polyester blends that uses hydrothermal treatment, was listed among the finalists in the Experimental category while Absorboost, a cellulosic superabsorbent polymer that acts as a water-retention agent for cotton farming, received an Honourable Mention in the agriculture category. The World Changing Ideas Awards are organised by the business media Fast Company and they honour businesses and organisations that develop creative solutions to the pressing issues of our time.

The Green Machine also won a Scientific and Technological Progress Award of the Garment Industry in China and a silver award of the China Apparel Industry Patent Award, both issued by the China National Garment Association. The Green Machine has already received nine international awards, including a bronze award of the Edison Awards 2023 and the R&D 100 Awards 2022, since its launch in 2016. This wide recognition shows that the Green Machine is an impactful and effective solution that addresses the industry’s long-term challenges in recycling blended textiles.

"We are proud to receive these awards," said Edwin Keh, Chief Executive Officer of HKRITA. "The exchanges and experiences gained from these competitions have been invaluable in refining our innovations to meet market needs, improving their application and exploring the potential of industrialisation. Recognition has helped us stay at the forefront of innovation in the textile and apparel industries and benefit the society at large."

HKRITA has won a total of 109 awards and has entered a wide range of innovation and design awards. For example, the Garment-to-Garment Recycling System won a gold award in the iF Design Award 2022, was honoured by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion’s Good Design Best100 2021 of The Good Design Award (G Mark), and also won a Red Dot Award: Product Design 2019, to name a few.

Apart from international innovation awards, HKRITA’s projects have also received local recognitions over the years. HKRITA's project Fabric Touch Tester won the Grand Award of Equipment and Machinery Design in the Hong Kong Awards for Industries in 2016. Other HKRITA’s projects have also won gold, silver and bronze awards in the Hong Kong Green Innovation Awards.

View the awarded projects in detail here.

HKRITA

Established in 2006, HKRITA is funded by the Innovation and Technology Commission of the HKSAR Government and hosted by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. HKRITA engages in applied research to support the textile and apparel industry in order to boost its overall competitiveness, and to drive sustainable improvements and bring benefits to society. By providing one-stop services for applied research, technology transfer and commercialisation, HKRITA makes sustained efforts to promote successful projects for industry application.

www.hkrita.com