It was a night of industry firsts when Licensing International hosted its 2023 Licensing Excellence awards on Monday night, marking not only the handing-out of the inaugural ‘best sustainable licensed product’ but a ground-breaking win for the Goodyear brand.

Fighting off some very strong competition from pioneers of sustainable development within the licensing sector, Goodyear took home the win for its Goodyear Calipers, a set of calipers that are constructed through the remanufacturing of used parts.

Goodyear impressed judges of the 2023 Licensing Excellence for its commitment to circularity by remanufacturing its calipers in North America. Used parts are collected and completely disassembled. They are then thoroughly cleaned with worn component replaced with original quality components. By the end of the process, the calipers are restored to their original function.

“This remanufacturing process uses 85% less raw materials than manufacturing new OEM parts,” said Mara Verze, senior director of licensing at IMG, the agents responsible for brokering the deal.

“Goodyear calipers provide exceptional longevity, reliability, and eco-friendliness and are on of the many ways Goodyear’s licensing programme is reducing its environmental footprint.”

Other projects in Goodyear’s portfolio include initiatives geared towards producing more sustainable products in more eco-friendly wand environmentally conscious packaging using FSC-certified materials.

Goodyear triumphed on the night that also saw special mention go to The Van Gogh Museum who missed out on the Sustainability Award but took home a Best Licensed Brands award in the Art, Design, and Museum category.

The night saw a swathe of Products of Change members secure Licensing Excellence, including Chronicle Books for Best Publishing, Social Expression, and Back-to-School brand with LEGO in Focus; the LEGO Group for Best Toys, Games, Novelties, and Role Play for its LEGO Ideas The Starry Night with MoMA; and Microsoft’s Minecraft for Best Digitally Native, Gaming, and NFT.

NFL Players Association won Best Sports, eSports, and Collegiate brand.