Braloba HK Limited wins Manufacturing category at HKB International Business Awards

Their subsidiary #tide ocean gathers and turns ocean-bound plastic to raw materials that produce sustainable goods.

Esteemed leather watch, rubber straps and watch-related accessories manufacturer Braloba (HK) Limited came away with the Manufacturing Award during the HKB International Business Awards 2020, presented by Hong Kong Business magazine. The program lauded the company’s innovative and eco-friendly manufacturing process, #tide ocean material.

Collaborating with social enterprises in Southeast Asia, the initiative’s core revolves around accumulating, categorising, and processing 100% ocean-bound plastics into raw materials for manufacturing sustainable items.

Working with the Swiss University of Applied Sciences, Braloba has managed to upcycle ocean-bound waste into virgin quality level raw material that can be utilised for a wide array of consumer products. When transformed into granules, they are used for plastic injection for watches, furniture, electronic devices, automotive parts, and any item that calls for a hard plastic product. It can even be used for constructing car interiors.

On the other hand, when converted to yarn, the plastic can be used for apparel, bags, shoes, home and office interiors, as well as any products that harness high quality polyester textiles.

Lastly a third product has recently been introduced: #tide Filament, that can be used for 3D-Printing.

The plastic waste for #tide ocean material is sorted by type and created from all kinds of plastic, from PET to PP, all collected from the ocean, coastlines and uncontrolled landfills.

#tide ocean material’s subsidiary in Ranong, Thailand coordinates this collection of ocean-bound plastic. The clustered material is tallied, washed and shredded in a social enterprise established by the Swiss Non-Profit Jan & Oscar Foundation and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Headquartered in Switzerland with manufacturing operations running across China, Thailand, and Myanmar, as well as finance functions housed in Hong Kong, Braloba is a revered name within the Swiss watch industry.

Besides the production of high quality watch straps and accessories for watches, Braloba Group is also acknowledged for its devotion to environmental sustainability due to their development of eco-friendly manufacturing processes through their ability to leverage the expertise and revenue they have accumulated on their existing endeavors.

Advocating the use of waste as a resource allows Braloba Group to actively partake in a much-needed circular economy. Since the initiative's establishment two years ago, #tide ocean material has cemented collaborations with numerous globally recognized customer brands. Currently, more than 100 projects are being developed.

It has also partnered with several ventures such as Swedish watchmaker Triwa, Europe’s leading Platform for sneaker lovers Sneakerness, as well as jewelry and watch designer Jason Hyde.

“We care for the planet. To partially clean the ocean in order to make a beautiful jewelry piece makes us very proud,“ said Hyde in a testimony.

After developing the methods and building up the know how in Switzerland, the management of #tide plans to expand the waste processing to various hotspots in China and Thailand where the majority of consumer products are manufactured.

For more information check out their websites at www.tide.earth and www.braloba.com.

The Hong Kong Business Awards 2020, presented by Hong Kong Business magazine, was held via video conferencing in September.

This year’s nominations were judged by a panel consisting of Eugene Liu, Managing Partner at RSM Hong Kong; Charbon Lo, Director at Crowe (HK) CPA Limited; Andy Wong, IPO Leader at SHINEWING (HK) CPA Limited; Anthony Tam, Executive Director at Mazars Hong Kong; and Edward Au, Managing Partner at Deloitte China.

If you would like to join the 2021 awards and be acclaimed as one of the outstanding companies in Hong Kong, please email Jane Patiag at [email protected].