The German Sustainability Award has been presented since 2008 for exemplary sustainability achievements in business, local government, and research. With five competitions, more than 800 applicants, and approximately 2,000 guests at the closing event, it is the largest award of its kind in Europe.

This year, the expert jury of the German Sustainability Award in the Products category honored those products that make particularly effective contributions to sustainable transformation in one of the five transformation fields (climate, resources, nature, society, and value chain). The focus was not only on technological innovations, but above all on the demonstrable impact of a product: To what extent did it contribute to conserving resources, reducing emissions, closing cycles, strengthening social responsibility, or establishing sustainable consumption and production patterns? In addition, the jury considered aspects such as innovative strength, scalability, role model function, and long-term impact across the entire life cycle of a product. In a two-stage process, it identified those solutions that, beyond their actual function, have a positive impact on the economy and society and set new standards for sustainable products. 

The sustainable dyeing process PIGMENTURA from the CHT Group was honored in the Products category. Our COO Dr. Lorenza Sartorelli accepted the sustainability award for PIGMENTURA in Düsseldorf from Gregor Steinbrenner, the host of the award ceremony on December 4.

With PIGMENTURA, the CHT Group has developed a dyeing process that significantly improves resource efficiency in the textile value chain. The use of the pad-dry process achieves greater efficiency compared to conventional dyeing processes. At the same time, energy consumption, CO₂ emissions, salt requirements, and the use of rinse water are reduced, and wastewater treatment is significantly reduced. This leads to savings in clean drinking water and makes an important contribution to the transformation of one of the most resource-intensive industries.

The jury particularly praised the efficiency gains and the associated savings potential, which not only benefit individual companies but can also have a large-scale impact along international supply chains. Such advances are highly relevant for the textile and fashion industry. With this award, the jury highlighted an innovation that impressively demonstrates how the further development of proven processes can lead to substantial progress in resource conservation and environmental protection in textile production.

Eric Siekmann, Head of Sales Business Division Textile Solutions, on PIGMENTURA: "Developing chemical products and processes that make textile manufacturing more sustainable is very important to us. Our development departments have always worked together with our colleagues in application technology and our customers to make energy- and water-intensive dyeing processes more sustainable.

PIGMENTURA is an example of how completely new processes can be developed by rethinking existing methods: The starting point was traditional pigment dyeing, in which the pigments have to be “bound” to the textile using special components. PIGMENTURA follows the idea of adsorbing pigments on the surface, thus simplifying the process."

Dr. Annegret Vester, Chief Sustainability Officer at CHT, can confirm this: "It was a highlight when it became clear how much potential for savings could be achieved in the dyeing process with PIGMENTURA. Classic reactive dyeing of textiles is associated with very high energy and water consumption. During the development phase, there were numerous obstacles to overcome, as each individual step in the process had to be developed to process maturity. Added to this is the diversity of textiles, which leads to significant changes in dyeing behavior, which we have now been able to standardize with PIGMENTURA.”

COO Dr. Lorenza Sartorelli is also enthusiastic: “PIGMENTURA by CHT is already being used in the fashion industry worldwide. This makes rivers cleaner, as lower water consumption also means less wastewater. We are on the way to active environmental protection in the global textile industry.”