Category Description
This award is aimed at a product (or range of products) whose design and innovation serves a sustainable or environmental purpose or is made from 100% recycled/recyclable materials. All phases of the lifecycle of the product (from conception, pre-production, production, distribution, usage, after usage) should be taken into account. Information about special materials as well as information about the production conditions will be considered. Extra weight will be given to those demonstrating true sustainable innovation in how they produced their product.
The award will recognise organisations that push the boundaries in an effort to create an environmentally friendly and affordable solution to an existing potentially polluting product. The judges will give credit for evidence of positive, value adding results that make innovative use of otherwise wasted resources, through; for example, the use of a previously regarded waste product into a new useful product.
Initiatives will also be rewarded for addressing energy, water and general ecological footprinting as well as wider concerns around food and waste.
The judges will specifically be looking for evidence of: verifiable environmental impacts that your product made, compared to its predecessor where there is one (whether they be measured in reductions, water saved, food waste reductions and/or waste generation reductions); the use of awareness raising to promote the product and encourage it’s use in the relevant industry sectors; and whether the product is one of a number of products or activities by the organisation to reduce overall environmental impacts.
Products or proto-types will have been created between 2014-2017.
Criteria
Judges will be looking for evidence within the application form of the following weighted criteria:
- Details of the product innovation, how it was developed, its goals and ethos and how a need was identified for the product; (30%)
- Evidence and effectiveness of the product and the verifiable reductions to the environment; (35%)
- Awareness raising to promote and support the environmental benefits of the product incl. market reaction, industry awards won, press coverage gained; (15%)
- Proof of success/impacts e.g. statistics, financial benefits, ratios, percentages, ROI etc, (20%)
