The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) on Friday won a silver and two bronze prizes at the prestigious Edison Awards for three innovative products it helped develop.

The US-based competition, which honours excellence in new product and service development, marketing, design and innovation, received more than 400 nominations for its 2023 contest.

An immersive industrial metaverse the HKPC developed won silver in the category of manufacturing process optimization.

The product generates a virtual space for manufacturers to design and tweak how factories are set up to help optimise production line settings.

A separate project bringing greater flexibility and automation in the packaging of various Chinese medicinal products won bronze in the ‘enhanced automation’ category, while a novel process to separate cotton and polyester to allow for easier recycling also won a bronze in the ‘circular economy’ group.

HKPC Executive Director Mohamed Butt said it was an honour for the council to win prizes at the Edison Awards for the first time.

“This recognition affirms our teams’ efforts in technological innovation and the commercialisation of world-class R&D,” he said in a statement.

“HKPC will continue promoting the adoption of innovative technologies across various industries to make great strides in driving Hong Kong towards becoming an international innovation and technology centre,” he added.