Soft drink label manufacturer Americk Webtech, the New York Bakery Company and WEEE Recycler RDC have all achieved a ‘gold rating’ for their innovative approach to achieving zero waste, following the latest round of judging in London this week (March 16).
A further thirteen companies were meanwhile awarded with silver, bronze or highly commended accolades.
Run by letsrecycle.com, the Zero Waste Awards are non-competitive and are awarded on merit to recognise good practice in the field of sustainable resource and waste management.
Free to enter, the Awards are partnered by paper and packaging manufacturer SAICA Natur, waste management experts WasteCare and PR agency Ceris Burns International.
Commenting on the entries, judge David Greenfield, of consultancy SOENECS Ltd, said: “The quality of the entries was high and demonstrates that the industry is moving forward and the innovators are getting gold awards.”
Fellow judge Karen Cannard, from the Rubbish Diet, added: “It was really encouraging to see the effort that’s being made behind the scenes in areas that are essential in order to move forward to a more resourceful future.”
Gold
Northern-Irish soft drink label manufacturer Americk Webtech prints five billion labels per year for the likes of Coca-Cola and major supermarkets such as M&S and Sainsbury’s. The company achieved zero waste to landfill in January 2014 and has since been focusing on moving waste up the waste hierarchy. A previous silver Zero Waste Award winner, the company was praised by the judges for its excellent training of staff and community engagement.
Rotherham-based New York Bakery, working with contractor Biffa, also achieved a silver Zero Waste Award last year and has since been working towards achieving gold. The company, which is known for its bagels, has made significant progress including achieving zero waste to landfill and a 97.4% reuse and recycling rate. The judges commended the company’s staff engagement and that only a very small fraction of waste was sent to energy recovery.
Based in Essex, WEEE recycler RDC has diverted millions of used IT items from landfill, weighing tens of thousands of tonnes, and is recognised as a leader in its sector. The company is one of the first to achieve the PAS 141 for WEEE reuse and has invested significantly in successfully recycling and reusing as much WEEE as possible. The judges were impressed with its staff training and polystyrene recycling scheme.
Awards
The Zero Waste Awards are celebrated at the annual recognition luncheon, which takes place this year on Thursday, April 9 in Warwickshire.
Winners of the gold Zero Waste Award are also automatically entered into the Zero Waste Platinum category at the Awards for Excellence in Recycling and Waste Management. Last year, the Zero Waste Platinum Award was awarded to KP Snacks.
If you think your organisation is worthy of recognition simply prepare and submit your own entry to the Zero Waste Awards. The awards are open to any organisation or business based in the UK or overseas and full entry criteria and details can be found on the Zero Waste Awards website.
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