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Environmental excellence under the spotlight at Scottish Waste & Resources Awards

From youth training to the latest waste treatment solutions and from furniture to food waste, there was plenty of innovation to choose from in the recent Scottish Waste & Resources Awards. Now in their 8th year, the awards recognise outstanding achievements in the waste sector in Scotland. On the night, five deserving winners stepped up to the podium to receive their awards from journalist and TV presenter Kaye Adams. Kaye, who appeared regularly on The Wright Stuff and was the anchor of ITV1's Loose Women for several years, said the awards reflected the growing level of interest and activity from the public, private and community sectors in the waste sector.

The Best Private Sector Initiative award went to Keenan Recycling Ltd for raising the bar for organic recycling in Scotland with the opening in April 2009 of one of Europe's largest in-vessel composting facilities for food waste and animal by-product waste. For a small family business, raising the £3.2 million funding was a challenge, but Keenan persevered and was granted an IPPC in just 4 months, a record time for this type of permit.

Perth & Kinross Council took the Best Local Authority Initiative award for its Community Waste Grant Scheme. Set up in April 2008, the scheme provides grant funding of up to £15,000 for non-profit community or voluntary initiatives that promote waste prevention and recycling and supports the additional social and economic benefits that these recycling/reuse projects can bring, including employment, training and volunteering opportunities.

Winner of the Best Community Sector Initiative was Recycle Fife for its success in creating training and employment opportunities through the delivery of recycling services for the commercial, community and social enterprise sectors. Based in Lochgelly, Recycle Fife has around 1,120 customers and also operates a kerbside collection service for cans, plastic bottles and office paper, which is soon to include glass and textiles. It works in partnership with the local authority housing associations, local tenants and residents associations and has also built strong links with many local Fife businesses.

Skills development and employment was also a focus of the submission by Grangemouth Enterprises Ltd (GEL) that won Best Partnership Initiative for its work with Falkirk Council to provide employment and training opportunities to young school leavers in the field of waste and resource management.

GEL was formed in December 1982 to assist with the relief of poverty by developing reuse and recycling within the local community, including white goods, ICT equipment and furniture. The winning training project was initiated to help the growing number of school leavers who were facing the prospect of becoming long term unemployed. It was ground-breaking in that there was no established training model for the provision of vocational qualifications for school leavers in the social enterprise and waste management sector. The programme was developed by GEL in partnership with Falkirk Council's Employment and Training Unit with the aim that it would become an example of best practice in the industry.

The final winner was Queen Margaret University (Edinburgh), which won the award for Best Non-waste Management Sector Initiative for its Re:Use Project in the Halls of Residence. The halls only provide the most basic equipment, which means that incoming students face a large outlay on items such as bedding, towels, and cooking utensils. Many of these items are then left behind when the students leave and the Re:Use Project bridges this gap by diverting serviceable goods from landfill and providing new students, often on low incomes, with an on-campus, low cost alternative to buying new equipment. The project fits well with QMU's wider sustainability policy by clearing demonstrating the benefits of recycling and waste reduction to the student population and helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by diverting waste from landfill.

The Scottish Waste & Resources Awards are part of the Scottish Waste & Resources Conference, an annual two day conference and exhibition organised by a steering committee comprising the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, Scottish Environmental Services Association, Keep Scotland Beautiful, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Enterprise, Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee, Scottish Government, the Caledonian Environment Centre and Community Recycling Network for Scotland.

"These awards demonstrate that there is a wealth of commitment, innovation, and entrepreneurial skill in Scotland when it comes to sustainable waste and resource management, and we are delighted to be able to recognise some of the excellent work that is going on," said John Summers OBE, Chairman of the Scottish Waste & Resources Steering Group.