Gala Evening Prior to IFAT 2018: GreenTec Awards Finalists have been Confirmed

19.01.2018

The online vote on the GreenTec Awards 2018 finalists has ended: the three most innovative projects have been selected from every category’s top 10 list. On May 13, the GreenTec Awards for the eleventh time will distinguish the best innovations in the fields of environmental protection and sustainability.

Gala Evening Prior to IFAT 2018: GreenTec Awards Finalists have been Confirmed

Just four months until the awarding of the GreenTec Awards 2018. (Image: GreenTec Awards)

The exclusive gala evening is the prelude to IFAT, the World s Leading Trade Fair for Water, Sewage, Waste and Raw Materials Management, taking place from May 14 to 18 in Munich.

For every category, the jury chose two finalists, the third was determined in the online voting—with votes from more than 130 countries worldwide. “To only have three innovations in the finals often seems to be unfair,” says Sven Krüger, Initiator of the GreenTec Awards. “Over and over again, we are impressed with the commitment of individual people and the high level of the many projects submitted.” Stefan Rummel, Managing Director of Messe München and organizer of IFAT adds: “We watch the finalists of the GreenTec Awards with great interest. New ideas and concepts in environment protection are enormously important to find the answers to the most significant questions of tomorrow.”

The finalists at a glance

The top 3 in Construction & Living are the projects of DAW SE (sustainable wood care products based on camelina), CONTAINERWERK eins (conversion of used sea freight containers into living space) and Werkgemeinschaft Böhme Hilse Diplomingenieure Freie Architekten (housing area with surplus energy, district-power and e-mobility).

In the Energy category, Fraunhofer ISE (18 Percent more power through innovative solar cell design), MWK Bionik (self-cleaning coating for PV plants) and sonnen (produce, store and share own and clean energy) were selected.

The three finalists in the Galileo Wissenspreis category are Biolab Eberswalde (sustainable mushroom-based materials to reduce plastic use), AES (sustainable energy system to supply a single-family home) and REIelectronics (to allow an ecological and economical recycling of electronic scrap).

In Lifestyle, tip me (tip for product manufacturers), Relenda (the environmentally conscious generation: renting and using over buying) and aha-Zweckverband (Hannoccino: innovative reusable cup system) took the three places in the final.

In the category of Mobility, DiniTech (charging of electric cars on any conventional power socket), paper planes e.V. (Radbahn under Berlin’s U1) and Alstom (CO2 emission-free train that runs with a fuel cell) are the three best innovations.

The finalists of Resources & Recycling by Veolia are creapaper (grass paper), Enactus RUB (a profitable, ecological alternative to burning electronic waste) and the Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of India (turning industrial waste into a business opportunity).

In the Sports by Jack Wolfskin category, SunnyBag (The Leaf+ solar panel charges all devices on the go), VAUDE (sustainable outdoor gear) and Solarskilift Tenna (world’s first solar-powered winter sports) were chosen.

einhorn products (fair and sustainably produced condoms), CONTAINERWERK eins (see above) and Fresh Energy (fighting power guzzlers: eco-friendly, low-cost, data-driven) compete for the Special Prize Start-up.

The finalists in Sustainable Development are BIO-LUTIONS International (biodegradable packaging made of 100 Percent agricultural waste), SUNfarming (agro-solar greenhouses) and Land Life Company (combat against desertification).

The Water & Sewage category’s top3 are Unimatec Chemicals Europe (portable water filter), Enactus Regensburg e.V. (cost-effective water filter for Africa) and Enactus Hochschule Bochum (Roots Up green house with its own water-production).

The jury meeting

On February 21, 2018, the selection committee will define the winners for all categories. The jury consists of representatives of economy, politics and media, including Prof. Dr. Claudia Kemfert (German Institute for Economic Research), Marco Vollmar (WWF Executive Director Communications) and Anna Loos (actress and musician), thus covering all socially relevant fields.

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