WINNERS OF NATIONAL RECYCLING AWARDS 2007 ANNOUNCED

Organisations ranging from supermarket chains, blue chip companies and local authorities take home a raft of awards

The winners of the National Recycling Awards 2007 were recently announced at a glittering awards ceremony at the Telford International Centre, hosted by comedian Jason Manford. Those winning industry accolades at the 2007 awards included a well-known supermarket retailer, a county council and a conference venue, as well as many others who have been successful in helping the UK to recycle more and minimise waste to landfill.

Winners:

Preston City Council won the Grosvenor Award for Best Local Authority Initiative, for its fun and highly innovative recycling campaign which targeted students at Central Lancashire University. Tins of 'emergency baked beans' were handed out to students at the university with a specially designed label incorporating the WRAP recycle logo and outlining how and where different materials could be recycled locally. In recognition of Preston City Council's creative input, the design aspect of the campaign was, according to the judges "something Saatchi and Saatchi might have come up with". Kerbside recycling increased in the study area by 10%, as well as participation rates and judges felt that this type of project could have far reaching effects with students able to take their new recycling knowledge home with them at the end of term.

Pendle Borough Council won the Viridor Award for Recycling Target Success, for an initiative started in June 2005 and which saw recycling rates across the Pendle borough in Lancashire far exceed its statutory targets. Since the 'Cleaner, Greener, Safer' campaign kicked off in 2005, Pendle Borough Council's recycling has improved dramatically hitting just under 32% for 2006/2007, with figures for the first quarter of 2007/2008 indicating 36%. The judging panel felt this was a major achievement, particularly as the borough was "really up against it" having a number of deprived areas and limited resources.

Wates, a UK building and construction company won the Sims 250 Award for a corporate responsibility strategy that "really stood out" according to the judges. Wates launched Target Zero across the company to address recycling policies and procedures and to encourage a step change in performance across all employees and suppliers. The detailed site waste reports and red, amber and green status system to help monitor if recycling levels fall below 55%, really caught the judges' attention. The company's thorough approach and impressive tonnage diversion figures led judges to comment that they "loved the breadth of the initiative" and recognise the "huge amount of thought" that had gone into the strategy.

The Green Waste Club won the Re-Gen Award for Best Partnership Project for Recycling. As a partnership between Verdant Group, Arun District Council, Arun residents, The Woodhom Group composting reprocessor, West Sussex County Council, Aldingbourne Nursery and other garden centres, the Green Waste Club (GWC) helped to recycle around 5,560 tonnes of green waste in Arun, West Sussex between January 2006 and July 2007 by creating an exclusive green waste collection club complete with membership card. The judges felt the scheme had a "good social element to it" and was really "accessible" despite the fact that Verdant is a huge organisation.

WM Morrison Supermarkets won the Baylis Award for Best Supermarket Initiative for its Recyclopedia campaign - a labelling system the retailer developed for its own-brand packaging. Morrison's Recyclopedia guide uses three symbols on its packaging, which act as a barometer of whether packaging is fully recyclable, partly recyclable or not yet recyclable. The symbols are accompanied by speech bubbles which provide the consumer with information about the recyclability of the packaging components and how to find out about local recycling facilities. The judging panel praised the initiative for the clever and considered way it engages with consumers, saying "It's quite prominent, considering there is not a lot of space to play with on the packaging".

Bath & North East Somerset Council won the Valpak Award for Best Waste Minimisation Project with their waste campaign Zero Waste Week aimed at reaching a group of residents that are often ignored - committed recyclers. By laying down a challenge to see how much participants could reduce their waste by, they illustrated just how much more they could do. Samples of households were recorded before and after the week-long challenge held in October last year. The number of items thrown away went down from 273 to 126 items, while the amount thrown away went down from 36 kilos to 8.6 kilos. The judges felt that Zero Waste Week was a deserving winner, particularly for taking on a largely neglected group and helping to prevent complacency.

Global Environmental Recycling won the Repic Award for Electrical and Electronic Recycler of the Year for its huge contribution to the recycling of CRT waste in the UK. Despite having only been established 12 months ago, Global Environmental Recycling's Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) recycling initiative is recycling around 80% of the UK's CRT waste. The Birkenhead-based company has a plant that can process 10 tonnes of CRT glass or 800 television sets an hour. This technology fragments the CRTs and sanitises glass by removing toxic materials such as lead and mercury. Glass at the end of the process is so pure that it is no longer classified as waste and can go back into CRT manufacturing. The judges recognised that Global Environmental Recycling had taken a "huge risk", as while businesses knew the Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment regulations were coming, no one knew exactly when the legislation would come into force.

etc.venues won the RWM 08 Small Business Recycling Initiative Award for its forward-looking approach to recycling in the company, which provides meeting, training and conference space - not an area notable for being at the forefront of recycling. This aspect particularly caught the judges' attention as they felt the firm was "in a position to influence other companies" in its field. As well as a 25% increase in the amount of material collected for recycling, the judges were impressed by etc.venues' establishment of Green Champions at each of its seven venues, responsible for driving recycling and environmental change. The judges were particularly wowed by the fact that the Green Champions have all completed the Waste Awareness Foundation Level awarded by the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management.

Joanna Lines of North Herts District Council won the Veolia Environmental Services Award for Recycling Officer of the Year for being "truly environmentally minded" according to her colleagues and a "rock of her department". Since starting at North Herts District Council just 18 months ago, Joanna has been involved in the implementation of alternate week collections and numerous education and recycling campaigns. Joanna also helped to establish a partnership between youth offender groups, the council and the police.

Bob Read, "one of London's most recognisable waste professionals" won the MRW.co.uk Lifetime Achievement Award which was voted for by readers of Materials Recycling Week (MRW). Bob was in local government for 38 years, including a 15- year stint as head of waste management for the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea where he was responsible for the design and delivery of London's first Materials Recycling Facility and its first fleet of split back collection vehicles. Bob is now with Hyder Consulting and has been a project manager with the London Recycling Fund for the last three years.

Commenting on all the winners, Paul Sanderson, editor of MRW said: "As chairman of the judging panel for the National Recycling Awards 2007, I've been really enthused and excited by the ever more sophisticated nature of many recycling schemes and initiatives in the UK. It's heartening to see how many companies now strive to make recycling and waste minimisation an integral part of their company's culture. There's no doubt that this has a big part to play in the drive to reduce the impact on our environment and prevent the waste of valuable resources in the UK."

For more information please visit www.nationalrecyclingawards.com