LSJH awarded at Finnish Fashion Awards

Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto (LSJH) was awarded best in its category at the Finnish Fashion Awards gala in Helsinki on Friday 31 May.

LSJH was nominated for its collaboration with VAIN and Latimmier clothing brands in the Innovation x Collaboration category celebrating innovations and imagination in the fashion industry.

Together with LSJH, the brands created collections, presented at Copenhagen Fashion Week, which used LSJH’s post-consumer textiles as their material.

“LSJH has supported Latimmier’s clothing production with recycled fabrics made from end-of-life textiles and VAIN’s upcycling collection by acting as its raw material bank and by sorting Finnish consumers’ end-of-life textiles to find suitable used clothes for their upcycling needs,” said LSJH’s circular textiles sales manager Miira Ojanen, who was responsible for the collaboration.

“A warm thank you to Latimmier and VAIN for a nice collaboration and to the jury for this great recognition. We are very surprised and extremely grateful. Thanks also to our amazing fellow nominees and all the Finns who recycle your end-of-life textiles,” said Ojanen happily.

Ojanen considers the award proof of the fashion industry’s change in which brave forerunners lead the way for others.

“The fact that a local waste management company like LSJH was awarded in a fashion show indicates that winds of change are blowing in the fashion industry. The truth is that the textile industry cannot continue as before. Creativity and brave cooperation across industries is important – even essential – for finding new solutions,” Ojanen said.

“We already have enough materials”

For over a decade, LSJH has worked for a post-consumer textile circular economy. Its vision is to find the best circular-economy solutions for household end-of-life textiles together with operators from various fields.

The national end-of-life textile collection network run by LSJH and other municipal waste management companies already covered 97% of Finland’s surface area in 2023.The end-of-life textiles collected from residents around Finland are processed into recycled raw material in Southwest Finland.

“An average Finn consumes approximately 11.3 kilograms of textiles per year. Why would we waste water and land for growing new textile fibres when we already have enough materials? In addition to the textile industry, end-of-life textiles can be used in various other industries,” Ojanen said.

The EU is currently living in a time of anticipation in terms of end-of-life textiles. Due to the EU Waste Framework Directive, the responsibility for textile collection is shifting from waste management companies to producers at some point.

Even though many questions related to end-of-life textile collection and use remain, LSJH hopes its partners have the courage to continue as forerunners in the textile circular economy.

“The textile circular economy can only be realised together. Cooperation with companies from various sectors, higher-education institutions, and other waste management companies has been extremely rewarding and inspiring. We keep our doors open for all interested in end-of-life textile use,” Ojanen stated.

Founded and organised by Fashion Finland and Juni Communication, the Finnish Fashion Awards was held on Friday 31 May 2024 as part of Fashion in Helsinki week. For the organisers’ press release, click here. (in Finnish).