The awards, now in their ninth year, are renowned for showcasing innovation, dedication and success in recycling and sustainable waste management and will be marked by a gala luncheon at the Landmark Hotel in London.
This year theawards ceremony will be hosted by Channel 4 news presenter Jon Snow.
Entries were invited from local authorities, waste management companies, businesses and the third sector across ten categories and three entries for each have now been shortlisted.
Steve Eminton, editor of letsrecycle.com, said: We were very impressed with the standard of entries this year and the finalists reflect the high level of achievement.”
The awards are organised by letsrecycle.com. To secure your place, please visit the Awards for Excellence website or call head of events Iona Smith on 0207 633 4526.
The judging panel for this years awards comprised of: Jeff Cooper (chair), president of the International Solid Waste Association; John Woodruff, chairman of the National Association for Waste Disposal Officers; Caelia Quinault, news editor at letsrecycle.com; Dr Kiara Zennaro, senior technical officer at the Association for Organics Recycling; Rid Hollands from the Environmental Services Association; Catherine Cooke, contract development manager at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and, Craig Anderson, chief executive of the Furniture Re-use Network.
This years finalists are:
HIGH STREET RECYCLING CHAMPION sponsored by Viridor
Atlantic Village Outlet Shopping Centre
This Shopping Centre in North Devon increased its recycling rate from 40% in 2005 to a staggering 94.95% at the end of 2011. The centre recycles materials ranging from cardboard and plastics to coat hangers and coffee grounds.
Dunelm (Soft Furnishings) Ltd
Over the last 15 months Dunelm has dramatically increased recycling rates, from 25% at the end of 2010 to 82%, while also saving money. Waste costs have almost halved from around 800,000+ per annum to around 438,000, with income reaching 60,000 per month.
MITIE Waste & Environmental and IKEA
IKEA partnered with Cyrenians Organics Waste Recycling (CORE), a social enterprise created by the MITIE Group in collaboration with Edinburgh Cyrenians, to implement a new approach to food waste in its Edinburgh store. Matt Hope from IKEA and Luca Pornaro from CORE lead the project.
COMMERCIAL RECYCLING CHAMPION sponsored by Grundon
Arla Foods
Dairy Arla achieved its goal of sending zero waste in December 2011 a year earlier than planned, after adopting an ambitious environmental strategy. Under the strategy the company took a truly holistic approach to the environment and sustainability throughout the supply chain.
Newcastle University
Newcastle University has rolled out a recycling campaign spearheaded by waste manager Daniel OConnor which has seen recycling rates rise from 20% in 2008 to over 90% in 2011.
RS Components and Recolight
Following a waste audit, RS Components, a distributor of electronics and maintenance products, set itself a target of zero waste to landfill and partnered with Recolight to help customers recycle lamps.
WASTE MANAGEMENT INITIATIVE IN THE COMMERCIAL AND PUBLIC SECTOR sponsored by Shanks
Croxley Green Business Park and the Green House
Croxley Green Business Park is managed by MJMapp, which teamed up with waste management company the Green House to realise a goal of sending zero waste to landfill. The park thereby increased its recycling rate from 26% to 80%.
Santander with MITIE
Since partnering with MITIE in 2009, the bank Santander has increased its recycling rate from 62% to 93% in the last three months of 2011, while waste arisings fell by 8.7% between 2010 and 2011.
Whitbread and Veolia Environmental Services
The Whitbread Group Plc and waste management company Veolia teamed up to achieve zero waste to landfill by 2014. Landfill diversion has since increased from 49% in November 2009 to 82% in November 2011.
INNOVATION IN THE DESIGN OF A WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITY sponsored by the ESA
Casepak MRF
Opened in September 2010, Casepaks 150,000 tonne-a-year capacity materials recycling facility in Leicester incorporates state-of-the-art technology to sort a wide range of dry mixed recyclables.
Riverside Resource Recovery EfW facility
Corys energy-from-waste incinerator at Belvedere, South London, can process up to 670,000 tonnes of residual waste each year. The plant has also been designed to meet stringent aesthetic and operational criteria.
Southwark integrated waste management facility
The Southwark integrated waste management facility was built by Veolia ES as part of its 25 year PFI contract with Southwark council. The facility comprises a materials recycling facility (MRF), mechanical biological treatment facility (MBT), reuse and recycling centre, waste transfer station and education centre.
COLLECTION CREW OF THE YEAR sponsored by Mercedes-Benz
Andy Fielding, Will Ryan & Ryan Millington, Palm Recycling
Palm Recyclings collection crew carries out kerbside recycling collections on behalf of Sefton council. Having worked together for five years, the crew have developed what Palm describes as an excellent working relationship with a strong team-playing approach.
Dave Watson, Tomas Kis, Paulo de Costa & Fahan Hussain, Veolia
Westminster city councils evening recycling round two from Veolia ES Westminster have worked to what Veolia calls an exceptional standard to significantly increase commercial waste recycling tonnages while serving residential customers.
Carl Bilboe & Dave Hemming, Wyre Forest district council
Wyre Forest district councils two-man garden waste collection crew operates a paid-for service that runs fortnightly from March to December. Despite winning in this category last year, the council said that the crews high level of work commitment and customer rapport meant that they deserved further recognition, especially as crew member John has been replaced by Dave Hemming.
THE BEST COMMUNITY RECYCLING INITIATIVE sponsored by DHL Envirosolutions
The Al-Hilal Community Project
This project was established in 1978 to provide support and help for Asian and Muslim residents living in Cheetham Hill in Manchester. Manchester city council contacted the project to help raise awareness of the waste problem in the area, where recycling rates were low.
Newmarket Open Door Community Recycling Centre
Homeless charity Newmarket Open Door took over the full operation of one of Suffolk county councils household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) in August 2011 after the council announced plans to close seven of its 18 HWRCs.
The Paint Shed
The Paint Shed is a community recycling project set up by social enterprise Exsel CIC in partnership with Help Direct Lancashire. It incorporates the national Community RePaint Recycling scheme and a low cost community painting and decorating service and is available to both residents and commercial businesses in West Lancashire.
RECYCLING BUSINESS OF THE YEAR sponsored by M+W Group
ECO Plastics
2011 was a busy year for Lincolnshire plastics recycling company ECO Plastics. In February 2011 the company signed an agreement with Coca-Cola to form a joint venture, Continuum Recycling, to develop a purpose-built bottle-to-bottle recycled plastics processing facility, which is on schedule to open in Spring 2012. ECO also secured a loan from WRAP to extend its sorting facility.
First Mile Ltd
First Mile, which describes itself as Londons only truly 24/7 recycling and waste company, launched in 2003 and now offers recycling services to over 8,000 businesses in London and Birmingham. The company is built around the concept of easy recycling.
SRCL
Specialist clinical waste management company SRCL has over 40,000 public and private sector customers including hospitals, doctors, dentists and local authorities. The company provides a high level of customer service while promoting safety, compliance and risk management.
CIVIC AMENTIY SITE OF THE YEAR sponsored by Repic
Penalta Civic Amenity Site
Recycling rates at Caerphilly county borough councils Penalta civic amenity site have rocketed from 59% in 2007/8 to 87% in 2010/11. The site is open 363 days a year and is carefully designed to make it user-friendly and safe.
Pinbrook Road Household Waste Recycling Centre
The Pinbrook Road Recycling Centre in Exeter opened in June 2011 and is operated by SITA UK on behalf of Devon county council. Since opening, the site has achieved an 85% recycling rate, making it the highest performing site in Devon.
Weston Mill Household Waste Recycling Centre
The Weston Mill Household Waste Recycling Centre has been managed by the environmental charity Groundwork Southwest on behalf of Plymouth city council since April 2011. Prior to this contract, the highest annual recycling and reuse rate at the site was 64% but this is set to rise to around 72% by the end of 2011/12.
THE BEST LOCAL AUTHORITY RECYCLING INITIATIVE sponsored by Palm Recycling
Banbridge district council’s Commercial Kerbside Recycling Service
Banbridge district council introduced a new one pass kerbside waste and recycling collection service for all commercial customers In April 2011. Within eight months, the council moved from a position where all commercial waste was sent to landfill to one where 51% is recycled.
Cardiff council’s Schools Food Waste Project
Cardiff council increased participation in food waste recycling among its primary schools from 28% to 100% in just six months despite initial resistance. The council wrote to every school and stated that they would no longer receive a free recycling collection unless they signed up for food waste collection.
Warwickshire county council’s Recycling of Road Sweepings
Warwickshire county council led on the procurement of a contract to recycle road sweepings from seven Midland councils which will save more than 10 million over the next seven years. The contract was won by SITA UK which developed a 750,000 processing facility in Wolverhampton which can handle up to 30,500 tonnes of road sweepings a year.
LOCAL AUTHORITY RECYCLING CHAMPION sponsored by FCC
Phil Chadwick, Warrington borough council
Phil Chadwick began working for Warrington borough council many years ago as a refuse collection driver. Since being appointed education & promotions officer within the waste minimisation and recycling team six years ago, recycling levels in the borough have risen from 19% in 2006 to over 43% in 2011/12.
Councillor Beryl Hunwicks, Woking borough council
Councillor Beryl Hunwicks has been portfolio holder for waste and recycling at Woking borough council since 2008 and her enthusiasm and dedication has been instrumental in helping the authority make improvements in its recycling services. This has helped boost recycling rates from 44% in 2009/10 to 58% in January 2012.
Related Links
Paul Mocroft, Oxfordshire Waste Partnership
The Oxfordshire Waste Partnerships communications officer Paul Mocroft developed a new waste prevention strategy and currently leads on all waste communications for the county. He has been involved in everything from promoting WRAPs Love Food Hate Waste message to dressing up as a Green Santa alongside the Cheeky Girls.
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