Organised by letsrecycle.com, the awards ceremony took place at the East Midlands Conference Centre and recognises the achievements and hard work of local authority recycling officers and their colleagues over the past year.
Presented with her award at black tie event on Wednesday (October 15), Emily Martin was named Recycling Officer of the Year 2014 for her work at Oxford city council, where she led a team that has done excellent work in boosting recycling in a large urban area.
She recently left Oxford city council to take up the position of recycling and collections advisor at the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), where judges said her experience, passion and dedication can positively influence others.
However, the Oxford city recycling team, as well as fellow nominee Aberdeen city council, were beaten to the Best Team of the Year award by Westminster city council – a winning team which judges praised for its innovative work towards boosting the London borough’s year-on-year recycling tonnage by 11.5% in 2013/14, with only 3% of waste sent to landfill.
Phil Robson, Westminster city council’s waste and recycling manager, said: “I am immensely proud of the team for winning this accolade. It is a privilege to be in charge of such a talented group of officers who work day in, day out to achieve a cleaner, greener city in the heart of London.
“This award means all the more because it has come from our peers, who know all about the challenges local authorities face in managing waste and recycling. I would like to congratulate every single member of the team and look forward to even more success next year.”
Accolades
Also among the six winners at the fourth annual LARAC awards event was Durham county council’s Reuse Forum project, which received the Best Partnership Award. The partnership of six reuse schemes covering a large area is also recognised by WRAP as a model of best practice.
The Best Communications Campaign gong was given to Cheshire West and Chester council’s students campaign, through which the recycling team sought to improve awareness of recycling among the targeted group through initiatives such as pizza nights, boosting the recycling rate to 51%.
Special mention was also given by the awards judges to Eastleigh borough council’s ‘Buy it and try it’ garden waste initiative, which although it was not chosen as a winner, was highly commended by judges in the Best Communications Campaign category.
The Greater London Authority (GLA)’s FoodSave programme beat off stiff competition from nominees Bath and North East Somerset council and the North London Waste Authority to take home the award for Best Waste Minimisation or Prevention Project. Supported by the London Mayor and LWARB, the programme sought to reduce food waste at SMEs across the capital.
Finally, the Best New Idea award was presented to Falkirk council for the role out of its Sustainable Waste Collection Service in 2014, which pioneered a move from a fortnightly residual waste collection to every three weeks. This change has produced a reduction in waste to landfill and is estimated to save the council £385,000 by 2015/16.
The LARAC 2014 Celebration Awards winners were:
Best Communications Campaign of the Year, sponsored by SITA UK:
- Cheshire West and Cheshire council: Chester Students Communication Campaign
Best Partnership Award, sponsored by Viridor:
- Durham county council: County Durham Reuse Forum
Best Team of the Year:
- Westminster city council
Best Waste Minimisation or Prevention Project, sponsored by Repic
- The Greater London Authority: Foodsave
Best New Idea:
- Falkirk council: Sustainable Waste Collection Service
Recycling Officer of the Year, sponsored by Countrystyle Recycling:
- Emily Martin, Oxford city council
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