Group 
Winners selected for the Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development 2012
The winners of the Gothenburg award for Sustainable Development will share SEK 1,000,000.
How do we achieve a sustainable society? That is the question that people spontaneously ask themselves when discussing recycling issues and sustainable development.
That was the starting point when the jury of the Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development nominated the 2012 Laureate. In comparison with nature’s eco-cycle in which waste products are of value in new processes, society’s current use of materials is unsustainable! As an example, only 5 per cent of plastics in the world are recycled. Entrepreneurship and new innovative solutions are required to break this trend and instead create functioning eco-cycles.
Against this background, awarded this year the Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development between two persons, one American and one Swedish, which in different ways successfully working to close the loops.
The prize is worth SEK 1,000,000 and is divided equally between:
Dr. Michael Biddle, Richmond, USA, combining technical expertise and entrepreneurial brilliance in his work that’s includes recycled plastics.
Björn Söderberg, Stockholm and Nepal, which builds and develops responsible companies in Nepal in the field of sustainable waste recycling.
Jury chairman John Holmberg commented on 2012 winners:
– Nature is characterized by ingenious closed systems, where waste products are new inputs. In comparison, industrial society linear material flows infernal ineffective – they lead to resource depletion, waste problems and energy waste. That, as the year’s two winners done, find thoughtful solutions to end the cycles are necessary and possible.
Gothenburg Prize was founded in 1999 by the City along with several companies with the aim to “stimulate the continued development and recognize strategic work of sustainable development, nationally and internationally.”
The prize is awarded in collaboration between the City of Gothenburg, Västra Götaland and 13 the following companies: Andra AP-Fonden, Carl Bennet AB, Christan Berner Invest AB, Elanders AB, Eldan Recycling, Folksam, Handelsbanken, Kooperativa Förbundet, Nordea, PEAB, SEB, DB Schenker AB and SKF.
This year’s prize is the thirteenth in order and will be awarded at a ceremony in Gothenburg on December 4.
