The Swedish Textile Service Association in cooperation with Ecolab draws attention to far-reaching work to extend the life of textiles. This year's Sustainability Award in the Textile Service Industry goes to Anders Thorgaard, entrepreneur, visionary and owner of the laundry and textile service group DFD/Textilia.
Anders Thorgaard has taken the initiative to be able to upcycle textiles into new products on an industrial scale instead of burning or throwing away discarded textiles. This saves the environment. The concept, which goes by the name upcy, means that discarded textiles become raw material in new designed products, such as old duvets becoming new trendy jackets and worn-out tablecloths from gourmet restaurants becoming excellent chef's coats. Customers can order and take the upcycled textiles into their businesses and contribute to a circular economy.
Longer life, lower impact
- Textiles are a must for society to function. Just look at the needs that exist in healthcare, hotels and restaurants as well as in work clothes and entrance mats, areas where our members are active and contribute skills and products. At the same time, the production of textiles is a big burden from a sustainability perspective. By extending the life of the material, every textile becomes a pure profit for the environment, says Jan Kluge, chairman of The Swedish Textile Service Association.
Combining fashion and durability
- The concept that Anders Thorgaard stands behind has grown from a desire to develop value-creating and environmentally sustainable solutions that can be documented. There is a pervasive idea about how all materials can be used to eliminate all forms of waste and about how the long-distance transport can be minimized when discarded textiles are collected, designed and turned into new in-demand textile products. We think this commitment is an extraordinary reflection of the extensive sustainability work that is going on in the laundry and textile service industry as well as a forward-looking way to solve a tangible sustainability challenge, Jan Kluge continues.
Supporting children in Ukraine
The Swedish Textile Service Association has awarded the Sustainability Award every year since 2017
number of deserving awardees. Since last year, the award has been made in cooperation with Ecolab, which offers solutions and services in water, hygiene and infection prevention that contribute to making the world cleaner, safer and healthier.
The prize money is SEK 5 and Anders Thorgaard will donate it to Children in Ukraine through SOS Children's Villages in Denmark.
Former laureates
- 2017 Pia Bergman, national coordinator against serious economic crime at the Swedish Tax Agency.
- 2018 Carl-Johan Björkman, entrepreneur Hr Björkman's Entrance Mats.
- 2019 Schlemon Athoraya, entrepreneur Örebro-Tvätt, and Kent Pettersson, entrepreneur KåPI Tvätt in Bengtsfors.
- 2020 Jonas Olaison and Lena K Wiles, sustainability managers at Textilia and Elis, respectively
- 2021 Peter Streijffert, entrepreneur at Lindbytvätten on Öland.
- 2022 Jonny Hägerström, CEO TvNo, and Henry Eskola, National Key Account Manager at Scandbio,
More about
Innovative and competitive laundry industry
The Swedish Textile Service Association is the Swedish industry organization and represents members in both laundry for private individuals and industrial laundry and textile services. The association conducts continuous work for an innovative and competitive laundry industry.
The member companies have about 5 000 employees and account for up to 90% of industry turnover of about SEK 6 billion. The association's operations are driven by increased demands on customer value, quality, hygiene and climate and environmental efficiency. All members of the Swedish Textile Service Association are professional authorized businesses and undergo an annual inspection by the environmental consulting company Ensucon.
For further information
Jan Kluge, Chairman of the Association, tel. 0705 92 58 98
Daniel Kärrholt, CEO, tel. 0705 11 36 85
