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NATIONAL RECYCLING AWARDS CELEBRATE 10TH ANNIVERSARY
THE National
Recycling Awards - the only gala event recognising and rewarding
excellence in the waste and recycling community - are back for 2008
and are calling for companies, councils and charities to enter and
be in with a chance of winning one of these prestigious accolades.
Widely recognised as the recycling industry's benchmark, the
National Recycling Awards have been celebrating best practice in the
public and private sector for over a decade.
Additional Categories:-
With high street retailers playing an ever greater role in green
issues, organisers have introduced a new category for Best High
Street Recycler which extends the opportunities for local and
national retailers including pubs, bars and restaurants to enter the
Awards. Meanwhile the Wincanton Innovation in Health and Safety
Practices Award recognises that there is still much to do to reduce
the dangers faced by those working in the industry, and seeks to
reward successful initiatives that have won the full support of the
workforce.
Organised by Materials Recycling Week, the National Recycling Awards
are open to any organisation, community group or company that is
affected by recycling, plays an active part in the recycling process
or is involved in the production chain of recycled products. Winners
will be presented with their awards at a celebrity-hosted black-tie
gala event at the Telford International Centre on 12 November 2008.
Full entry guidelines can be found on
www.nationalrecyclingawards.com
and the closing date for entries is Friday, 22 August 2008.
The 2008 National Recycling Award categories are:-
* REPIC Electrical & Electronic Recycler of the Year
* Valpak Award for Best Local Authority Initiative
* Baylis Award for Best Supermarket Recycler
* Wincanton Innovation in Health & Safety Practices
* Viridor Best Local Authority Initiative
* Corus Small Business Recycling Initiative
* Best Partnership Project for Recycling
* Recycling Officer of the Year
* ASDA Recycling Target Success
* Best High Street Recycler
Paul Sanderson editor of Materials Recycling Week (MRW) and chair of
the judging panel, said:- "The high street has a massive role
to play in making a more sustainable society and the recycling
industry itself is making genuine efforts to improve on its poor
health and safety record. The categories for this year's National
Recycling Awards acknowledge both of these trends. Across the
UK, thousands of businesses, charities and local authorities
continue to do their good work to minimise waste and recycle, much
of which goes unnoticed. We would urge them all to enter the
National Recycling Awards so their great ideas can be shared with
others. There really is a category for everyone!"
Benefits of winning:-
The prestige associated with winning a National Recycling Award is
considerable. As well as recognition from their peers in the
recycling industry, previous winners report that it has raised their
profile, boosted staff morale and helped them to win new business.
Last year's winners included:-
* WM Morrison Supermarkets who won the Baylis Award for Best
Supermarket Recycling Initiative for its Recyclopedia guide - a
labelling system which the retailer developed for its own-brand
packaging. The supermarket developed a system of symbols which
provided customers with information on the recyclability of the
packaging components.
* Preston City Council who picked up the Grosvenor Best Local
Authority Initiative Award by bringing about a "wind of change" with
its baked bean-themed campaign to encourage students to recycle!
Kerbside recycling in the study area increased by 10% and recycling
participation rates increased too.
* Pendle Borough Council who smashed recycling targets with its
'Cleaner, Greener, Safer' campaign, despite a high number of
deprived areas and limited resources, and ran off with the Viridor
Recycling Target Success Award.
The entries will be
judged in September by a panel of industry professionals chaired by
MRW's editor, Paul Sanderson.
For more information please visit
nationalrecyclingawards.com.
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Views sought on skate park
LIVERPOOL City
Council is getting people’s views on whether they want a skate park
in the city.
The city has a
thriving community of skateboarders, highlighted by the growing
popularity of the city’s annual HUB festival. A celebration of music
and extreme sports including skateboarding, BMX and in-line skating,
this year’s festival at Otterspool Prom attracted more than 20,000
people.
As part of HUB,
temporary skate parks are set up, but the council has now launched a
city-wide consultation to find out how much demand there is for a
permanent skate park, and where people would like to see it built.
Local people with an interest in skateboarding, BMXing, in-line
skating or rollerblading are being invited to fill out an on-line
questionnaire. It gives them the chance to have their say and make
their opinions count.
The city council is also putting posters
and information leaflets to let people know about the consultation
in the city’s Lifestyles Fitness Centres and Youth Centres.
The city council’s executive member for sport, Councillor Keith
Turner, said:- “We are aware that sections of the community
are keen to see a dedicated skate park in Liverpool, so we are
carrying out some in-depth research into the level of demand and
possible locations.
Events like our
HUB festival demonstrate the thriving community of keen
skateboarders and BMX riders we have in Liverpool, and we want to
fully take on-board all their views.
This initial consultation
will give us a good idea of what people think and will form part of
a wider city-wide study into the feasibility of a skate park in
Liverpool.”
The questionnaire can be found at
liverpool.gov.uk/skatepark.
The closing date to have your say is 31 July 2008.
Towering fears for Fairfield’s historic spire
NEWS that one
of the last Victorian landmarks in the Fairfield area of Liverpool
could be set for demolition has been met with concern by the
Victorian Society, the national charity campaigning for the
Victorian and Edwardian historic environment.
Built by Victorian architect W Raffles Brown, the Church of St John
the Divine, has been a notable landmark on the Merseyside skyline
for over 150 years. The importance of its prominent tower and spire
was recognised in 1978 when these features were retained and
incorporated into a new building on the site after much of the
original church was demolished. However, the tower has become
dilapidated over recent years and financial constraints have led to
plans to close the church and demolish its remaining nineteenth
century features.
Given that many of the Victorian houses to the
south of St John the Divine are earmarked for demolition under the
Edge Lane widening scheme, the destruction of the tower and spire
could strip Fairfield of one of its last historic features, further
erasing the character of this once prosperous Liverpool suburb.
"The loss of the tower and spire of St John the Divine would
be a great shame.
It is one of the last
surviving markers of Fairfield’s affluent past as well as being a
significant landmark today.
Buildings like this contribute so much
to the character of their surroundings and foster a sense of place
and local distinctiveness.
We urge Liverpool Diocese to do
everything possible to avoid razing this piece of Liverpool’s
heritage to the ground." said David Garrard, Historic Churches
Adviser of the Victorian Society. |
