ERT wins the biggest worldwide prize in Textile Innovation
ERT wins the biggest worldwide prize in Textile Innovation - Techtextil Innovation Awards 2022 in the category "New Approaches on Sustainability & Circular Economy".
It was at Techtextil that ERT, the Portuguese multinational with facilities in Europe, North Africa and South America, was distinguished with an Innovation Award in the "New Approaches on Sustainability & Circular Economy" category.
Techtextil Innovation Awards 2022 aims to honor outstanding performance regarding research, new materials, products and technologies, as well as applications. Founded in 1992 in one of the main industrial centres in the north of the country, São João da Madeira, ERT started by producing technical textiles for footwear coverings. 30 years later, with more than 1000 employees and a turnover of over 100 million euros, ERT is now a multinational in the automotive sector, still active in textile components and other materials for footwear.
João Brandão, CEO of ERT Group, highlights that “the fact that we get this award in the year in which ERT celebrates 30 years is an encouragement for us to continue to develop and grow for another 30 years.”
ERT, working with the technological partners (CITEVE, CeNTI and CTIC), presented the concept “Valorisation of natural leather waste from automobile industry for the development of innovative textile coatings“, which was born from the constant concern of being able to reuse waste from production processes such as textile substrates and leather and consists of an innovative technique, where leather trimmings are chemically transformed into a solution through which it’s possible to make a coating that will be used in the interior of the car.
A “large-scale technology for the valorization of leather trimmings” developed together with technological and industrial partners and which earned ERT one of the most prestigious international awards for textile innovation.
For David Macário, Innovation Manager of ERT Group, this award is “the reflection of a policy of investment in innovation that was implemented by the administration more than 10 years ago and which is now showing its potential”.
A “small step” to become a reference for business innovation in the circular economy, with a sustainable product that guarantees full and total use of waste.
Youtube video:
https://youtu.be/4-xcfRzm8tc
