This year’s Sustainability Award in the Swedish Textile Service Industry has been won by Anders Thorgaard – entrepreneur, visionary and owner of the laundry and textile service group DFD/Textilia.
Anders Thorgaard has initiated the initiative to upcycle textiles into new products on an industrial scale instead of burning or throwing away discarded textiles. He developed the concept from a desire to establish value-creating and environmentally sustainable solutions that can be documented.
The concept – named upcy – ensures that discarded textiles become raw material in new designed products, such as new trendy jackets and worn-out tablecloths from restaurants becoming chef’s coats. According to Jan Kluge – chairman of The Swedish Textile Service Association – textiles are a must for society to function. At the same time, the production of textiles is a huge problem from a sustainability point of view. Kluge: “By extending the life of the material, every textile becomes a pure profit for the environment”.
