An innovative contest, sponsored by the Swedish H&M Conscious Foundation, awards winners from around the globe who create ideas that can protect our planet by reducing the impact of textile consumption. The Global Change Awards were presented by Crown Princess Victoria
during a ceremony at Stockholm City Hall on Feb. 10 to five winners, selected by an international jury of experts. The winners share a grant of 1 million euros ($1.1 million) which is distributed among them according to online voting by the public. Among this year’s winners is the American team of Akshay Sethi and Moby Ahmed for their Polyester Digester, a type of microbe that eats polyester waste and creates useful ingredients to produce new polyester. They were allotted 250,000 euros ($280,000). Other winners come from Finland, Estonia, Italy and the Netherlands.

The winners will participate in a one-year innovation accelerator organized by H & M Conscious Foundation, Accenture and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm to help them develop their ideas with a focus on three main areas: circular economy, innovation and industry linkage. A digital gathering place has been launched for innovators to present their ideas and find new partnerships: Global Change Award Network. More on the contest and the winners can be found at www.globalchangeaward.com

The five winners of the awards in 2015 were
An online marketplace for textile leftovers
Growing textile fibre under water
100 percent citrus
Polyester digester
Making waste cotton new