The first edition of the IMS Luxembourg Sustainability Awards recognised five Luxembourg associations and businesses for their commitment to sustainability at the end of October.
Digital Inclusion, The Ferber Group, Moulins de Kleinbettingen, SES and Food4All were selected out of 60 entries for the first edition of the prize.
Digital device training and refurbishment not-for-profit Digital Inclusion was awarded the People prize for its work. The service has been providing hardware to people on low incomes since 2016. The initiative has proved invaluable to the thousands of people who have fled their homes because of conflict to build a new life in Luxembourg.
The award is “recognition for this professional work,” said Digital Inclusion director Patrick de la Hamette. “Before the pandemic, we knew our work had a purpose. But the last two crises have shown that our project can adapt to a different context and provide solutions in Luxembourg.”
The planet prize was awarded to stylists The Ferber Group, for a range of different solutions including compensating the company’s carbon footprint by planting the equivalent of a tree for each coloring done, offering 100% vegetable hair dyes, using organic and vegetable-based care products, sorting of waste and recycling of coloring tubes. The brand even sends the cut hair to an association that recycles it. Lionel Ferber, who runs the salon chain with sister, said: “It’s recognition for our commitment to our planet, the only one we have that every day feeds us and sustains us.”
Wheat farmers and producers of finished products such as flour Moulins de Kleinbettingen was awarded the Prosperity prize for shortening the path from crop to table. Launched in 2020, the Le Moulin brand impressed judges for its use of raw materials, recyclable packaging and savvy marketing campaign–it delivered 260,000 packets of pasta to Luxembourg homes. CEO of the family business Jean Muller said: “Sustainability is in our DNA, we are very happy to be rewarded for this.”
Luxembourg satellite operator SES was awarded the Sustainability Prize for implementing a new ESG strategy to align its business with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The strategy identified four pillars: sustainable space, climate action, diversity, and equity and inclusion. This is a way to “use the power of space to address sustainability challenges on Earth,” said head of social impact at SES Amber Ledgerwood.
The jury gave a special mention for Food4All, a Luxembourg startup whose app monitors and prevents food waste along the value chain.
Each winner received a commissioned piece of artwork by Luxembourg artist Jacques Schneider.
Around 150 people attended the prizegiving on 25 October. In his speech, vice president of IMS Julien Demoulin invited attendees to draw inspiration from the practices presented. He stressed the need to make rapid changes in companies to tackle the climate emergency and other crises facing society.