#Raw Materials

2024-06-27

Better Cotton announces 2024 Member Award winners

Better Cotton announced the recipients of its 2024 Member Awards. This year’s awards – presented by Alan McClay, CEO of Better Cotton and Eva Benavidez Clayton, Senior Director of Membership and Supply Chain – honoured members who have made an outstanding contribution to the cotton industry.

Abdurrahim Yada from IPUD (left) and Alan McClay from Better Cotton (right) at Better Cotton Member Awards. Location: Istanbul, Türkiye, 2024. Photo credit: Evronas/Better Cotton.

In the 2021/2022 season, Better Cotton Retailer and Brand Members sourced an impressive 2.6 million tonnes of Better Cotton, accounting for more than 10% of the global cotton production.

The ceremony took place during a dinner cruise along the Bosphorus as part of the two-day Better Cotton Conference in Istanbul, Türkiye, which gathered over 200 industry representatives to discuss ‘accelerating impact’ at field level.

"It’s a great privilege to once again host our Member Awards and celebrate the dedication and unrelenting efforts of our partners. Transformative change within the cotton sector is predicated on collaboration at all levels, and as Better Cotton’s network continues to grow it’s important that we take stock of the progress we continue to make as an industry", said Alan McClay, Chief Executive Officer at Better Cotton.

The 2024 Better Cotton Member Award Winners are:

The Top Contributor Award, in recognition of the organisations with the highest uptake of Better Cotton relative to their use of the material, went to:

+ Walmart, for its significant uptake of Better Cotton in the large to very large member category

+ John Lewis Partnership, for its significant uptake of Better Cotton in the very small to medium sized member category

The Sourcing Award, in recognition of cotton traders and intermediaries who processed the highest volume of Better Cotton, went to:

+ Cargill Commodities, for its role in sourcing the highest volumes of Better Cotton in the cotton trader category

+ Vicunha Têxtil, for its role in sourcing the highest volumes of Better Cotton in the intermediary category

The Impact Storyteller Award, in recognition of the organisation whose field-level insights generated the most interest on the Better Cotton website in the past 12 months, went to:

+ Cotton Egypt Association, for featuring a story which shone a light on the people behind Better Cotton’s growing programme in Egypt, exploring the work underway to expand sustainable cotton production in the Nile Delta.

The Innovators Award, in recognition of the organisation for positively impacting farmers, fostering sustainable practices and improving livelihoods, went to:

+ CABI, for its multifaceted work in Pakistan which has included the creation of a national organic agriculture policy for Pakistan that is currently being assessed by the country’s Ministry of Food Security and Research. If approved, the policy is expected to strengthen and build bridges between stakeholders working to promote sustainability.

The Outstanding Contribution Award, in recognition of Member organisations and their commitment to cotton farming communities, went to:

+ Iyi Pamuk Uygulamalari Dernegi (IPUD), for implementing Better Cotton’s activities in Türkiye since 2013.

Better Cotton Initiative opens enrollment in the US with promising opportunities for producers

Producer enrollment for the US Program of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) is open until May 15 for the 2026-2027 season. With over 2,600 members spanning the cotton supply chain and more than 11,000 users of its Better Cotton Platform (BCP) as of 2025, BCI’s standard is implemented in 15 countries and covers one fifth of global cotton production.

Dr N Vigneshwaran is named 2026 ICAC Researcher of the Year

The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) is pleased to announce the selection of Dr N Vigneshwaran, Principal Scientist and Head of the Chemical and Biochemical Processing Division at the ICAR–Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology (ICAR-CIRCOT), Mumbai, India, as the ICAC Researcher of the Year 2026.

New U.S. cotton study uses real-world grower data to reveal where fiber impacts occur

Cotton Incorporated has released a critically reviewed life cycle assessment (LCA) of U.S. cotton fiber production that examines how cotton’s environmental impacts are measured and where meaningful improvements can be made across the value chain. The new data, grounded in real‑world grower inputs, measures what drives U.S. cotton’s environmental footprint from field to gin.

Mario Jorge Machado re-elected President of EURATEX

The EURATEX General Assembly has re-elected Mario Jorge Machado as President of EURATEX, renewing its confidence in his leadership at a crucial moment for the European textile and clothing industry. The sector is facing rising costs, global competitive pressure and an increasingly challenging transition towards sustainability and digitalisation.

ITM 2026 makes happy participants with its international and qualified visitor profile

ITM 2026 International Textile Machinery Exhibition, one of the most prestigious meeting points of the textile machinery sector, attracted attention in its first three days, particularly with its diverse international visitor numbers. Industry professionals from all over the world had the opportunity to closely examine the latest technology machines and solutions displayed in operation. Thousands of visitors from approximately 100 countries, primarily Egypt, Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Syria, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, met at the Tüyap Fair and Congress Center for new investment and cooperation opportunities.

KARL MAYER presents a textile TEXTRONIC® innovation at ITM 2026

With highly efficient machines and continuous textile innovations, KARL MAYER underscores its role as a reliable partner for discerning top-tier customers. Just in time for ITM 2026 in Istanbul, the industry leader is introducing a true innovation: an eyelash lace with its characteristic fringed look – combined with a previously unattainable 4-way stretch. While the established fabric could until now only be produced as rigid version or with one-dimensional stretch, the new elasticity in both dimensions expands the possibilities for cross-band panel fabrics.

DYNEEMA® and NP Aerospace advance personal protection for military servicewomen

Dyneema®, owned by Avient Corporation, an innovator of materials solutions, is supplying its high-performance unidirectional (UD) materials to world-leading armor manufacturer NP Aerospace, enabling the production of armor systems designed specifically to fit the female body. With 2,000 new armor systems, including 4,000 plates, made in the United Kingdom (UK) and delivered in June 2026, this collaboration addresses a long-standing lack of high-quality personal protection specially built for female defense and security personnel.