Upcycle the Gyres Society (UpGyres) is pleased to announce the addition of Ms. Smook to our Board as Upcycling and Blue Supply Chain Adviser.
Lizette joins UpGyres from Hong Kong.Ms. Smook is CEO at Innovasians Ltd Hong Kong and Innovasians Global Ltd.A veteran of the textile industry, Lizette Smook, a Cape Town, South African native studied science and founded InnovAsians in 2007.
(Innovate + Asians) Innovasians was founded based on a synergistic approach to business as a green sourcing operation that helps guide Small and Medium Enterprises towards more sustainable supply chains. Companies such as Nike Inc, Next plc, Shangri-La Hotels, Six Senses Resort and Swire have turned to Ms. Smook for advice on how to go green.
She is now taking GREEN into the new BLUE Economy. Built on trust, her business has branched out to 9 offices in 6 countries with a strategic office in Europe (Innovasians Europe) developing and manufacturing premium lifestyle products made from eco-textiles such as cotton, linen, hemp, soya, maize, kelp and performance synthetics which are incorporated in the most amazing range of apparel and home fabrics; as well as reusable tableware made of upcycled agricultural waste e.g. rice husk and bagasse to replace toxic melamine used as dinner service in so many schools, hospitals and institutions.
Ms. Smook has license to manufacture or set up manufacturing with Joint Venture partners in countries globally to up-cycle cellulosic biomass to replace toxic fossil fuel made polymers used for disposable PET products in fast food packaging. Clients from all sectors benefit from Innovasians’ turnkey solutions that are scalable (so economics is considered) as well as reducing environmental impact through developing these tangible products with blue technology.
Ms. Smook built single handedly a global distribution network for her products in South America, México, the East and West Coasts of the USA, France and Belgium as well as South Africa and Australia. Innovasians manages their entire supply chain with total transparency and traceability.
Lizette is a frequent speaker at major international conferences on packaging and sustainability and also as an authority on sustainable textiles. She presented a paper on “Applications of Bamboo” at the Eastern Cape Development Council of the South African Government in August 2011. She also presented on “Smarter Consumerism” at the Climate Change Business Forum in Hong Kong.
In addition, she is a Consultant to the United Nations and contributed a research paper on Bamboo in 2010. She was also a speaker at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Jakarta in 2009 on “the Impact of Fashion on Biodiversity”.Recently, Ms. Smook was nominated for Katerva Awards, Cartier Awards, Asia Pacific Entrepreneurial Awards as well as Enterprising Woman of the Year Awards in the USA and was Awarded Enterprising Woman of the Year Award in 2012.Lizette will be assisting and advising UpGyres, amongst others, in developing and driving UpGyres supply chain strategy for traceability and transparency.
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