The eighth annual awards, which are organised by letsrecycle.com, honoured a range of achievements across the industry covering areas such as innovation and design in waste management and success in recycling and reuse. This year also saw the inaugural Recycling Business of the Year Award.
Among the winners, North Lincolnshire council was awarded the Best Local Authority Recycling Initiative award for its decision to overhaul its waste and recycling container provision to move away from a one-size-fits-all method.
Elsewhere, Catherine Cooke, contract development manager at the London borough of Tower Hamlets, was named Local Authority Recycling Champion for her work in addressing low recycling rates in the inner city London council area.
And, waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling specialist SWEEEP Kuusakoski bagged the first ever Recycling Business of the Year Award for its on-going investment and developments in the waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling sector.
Event
The event was hosted by Channel Four News at Noon presenter and journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy, with a keynote address from Joy Blizzard, chair of the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee.
Ms Blizzard used her speech to assess the governments plans to be the greenest government ever against a backdrop of localism, Big Society and a coalition regime. This was in addition to media perceptions of recycling.
She said: Perhaps the comments on bin spies and non-jobs were a guide but everybody take heart because I am told the long-awaited Waste Review is set to be published in the spring. Just in case this doesnt happen, it is really important to have more celebrations like this.
Also at the event, Steve Eminton, editor of letsrecycle.com, welcomed guests back to The Savoy, which had been the main venue for the Awards for Excellence until 2008 when it was closed for two years for a multi-million pound makeover.
Mr Eminton also used his speech to praise the efforts of the waste management and recycling industry in helping England post a 40.3% household waste recycling rate for the year ending September 2010. The achievement went largely unnoticed when announced by Defra last week (see letsrecycle.com story).
In his address, Mr Guru-Murthy said: The last government was very interested in penalties and targets and charging as a mechanism to change behaviour. This government seems more interested in voluntary success and rewards. But, to be honest, we dont quite know what will change behaviours.
But, it may not need that much because in my own view, your battle in the waste and recycling sector is already won. My generation is one that had to be convinced about greenhouse gas emissions and climate change but children now have grown up with it and know about this.
Winners
The winners are as follows:
High Street Recycling Champion sponsored by Viridor
Winner: Henderson Retail and ISL Waste Management
In the first year of Henderson Retail working with ISL Waste Management it recycled: 900 tonnes of mixed dry recyclables; 190 tonnes of organic waste; 140 tonnes of cardboard; 80 tonnes of plastic and 65 tonnes of APB waste – all of which would previously have been landfilled.
Runners-up: Atlantic Village; Reading UKCIC, The Oracle and Reading borough council
Commercial Recycling Champion – sponsored by Hadfield Wood Recyclers
Winner: Cardiff Airport with MITIE
Cardiff Airport teamed up with MITIE in 2010 in a bid to increase its recycling rate and now caters for a range of materials including batteries, cans, cardboard, glass, green waste, plastics and wood. And, some of the receipts from the material sales have been reinvested, with 25% of profits going back into the process.
Runners-up: Amspec, Scout Enterprises, GVA Grimley & Friends Provident; JD Wetherspoon with DHL Supply Chain
Waste Management Initiative in the Commercial or Public Sector – sponsored by Shanks
Winner: E.ONs Waste Take-back Scheme
E.ON worked with Kingspan Insulation Ltd, Wetherby Building Systems and Entec UK to develop a waste take-back and recovery process for housing insulation offcuts. This resulted in 100% of Kooltherm K5 External Wall Board waste being diverted from landfill and briquetted for use in energy generation.
Runners-up: UCL with MITIE; Powerday and Wates
Innovation in Design of a Waste Management or Recycling Facility – sponsored by ESA
Winner: Clearfleau’s BV Dairy Project
The BV Dairy in Dorset was chosen by WRAP as a showcase site to demonstrate the role that innovative anaerobic digestion can play within the UK dairy sector and wider food manufacturing industry. Using Clearfleaus high rate liquid digestion plant on site it is digesting processing effluent and co-products, supplying renewable energy to the site and cutting its carbon footprint.
Runners-up: IMC; Vital Earth
Collection Crew of the Year Sponsored by Mercedes-Benz
Winner: Carl Bilboe & John Burgess, Garden Waste Collection Crew, Wyre Forest district council
Carl Bilboe and John Burgess make up the garden waste collection crew working for Wyre Forest district council which began a paid-for collection service in April 2010 and now has over 1,300 customers. The crew has received praise for the high level of service they provide, with comments that they are always happy, good-humoured and willing to help and give advice.
Runners-up: South Ribble BC and Enterprise Managed Services, Refuse 3: David Pownall and Kevin Holding; Preston City Council, Italian Job: Paul Trolley, John Lewis and Carl Turner
Best Community Recycling Initiative – sponsored by SCA Recycling
Winner: LV=SOSKITAID
Surrey-based LV=SOSKITAID, with the support of the International Rugby Board in Dublin, dispatches recovered rugby kits to children in emerging and disadvantaged countries within Eastern Europe and Africa. In nine years the organisation has sent over 2 million worth of recycled kit to 19 countries and helped more than 50,000 children.
Runners-up: Airedale Computer Recycling; Bikeworks (Megan Somerville)
Recycling Business of the Year – sponsored by Prova PR
Winner: SWEEEP Kuusakoski
SWEEEP Kuusakoski processed 27,000 tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in 2010, achieving 94% recovery rates with a small portion of waste going to waste-to-energy production. The company now recycles much of the domestic WEEE collected in London, as well as reaching along the M4 corridor to Wales, Oxford, North Dorset and Lincolnshire.
Runners-up: Newlife Paints; Hadfield Wood Recyclers
Civic Amenity Site of the Year – sponsored by REPIC
Winner: Waterloo CA site, Pembrokeshire county council
Waterloo civic amenity site on Pembroke Dock has a catchment area of 20,100 people in Pembrokeshire and has seen its re-use, recycling and composting rate rise from 40% to 70%. In 2010 the site underwent a rebuild and was laid out to maximise re-use, recycling and composting.
Runners-up: Banbridge CRC, Banbridge district council; Grimsby CRC, Newlincs Development Ltd and North East Lincolnshire Council
Local Authority Recycling Champion – sponsored by UPM
Winner: Catherine Cooke, Tower Hamlets
Catherine Cooke has been a core member of the Tower Hamlets Recycling team since 2005 and has been instrumental in more than doubling the councils recycling rate to over 27% in 2010/11. She has turned the borough from having one of the countrys worst recycling rates into one of the fastest improving by coming up with innovative solutions for the range of issues which make recycling difficult.
Runners-up: Carol Arthur, recycling officer, Torbay council; Matt Feekings, Waste Minimisation and Promotions Officer, Medway council
Best Local Authority Recycling Initiative – sponsored by Palm Recycling
Winner: North Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire council sought to improve active participation through the adoption of a personal waste and recycling service. Moving away from the one size fits all approach, individual households could choose to mix and match wheeled bins to suit their lifestyle. The re-use, recycling and composting rate rose to 51.4% in 2009/10 and 54% is expected for 2010/11.
Runners-up: Oxfordshire Waste Partnership; Telford and Wrekin council
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