Excellence reaps rewards at 2015 CIWM awards ceremony

06 November 2015

From textile recycling to sustainable demolition techniques, CIWM's Sustainability & Resource Awards 2015 yesterday showcased the very best in innovation, collaborative working, and communication.

A wide range of companies, as well as councils and individuals, scooped prizes at the awards, which recognise and reward successful initiatives designed to reduce environmental impact and improve resource efficiency. The winners were announced at the London Marriott Grosvenor Square at a ceremony hosted by Nick Hewer, presenter of Countdown and Alan Sugar's right-hand man on The Apprentice.

The 2015 winners are:

Best Local Authority use of the Waste Hierarchy Award: Caerphilly County Council for its proactive work in promoting re-use and recycling.

Waste and Resource Learning & Development Award: Viridor's Ardley Energy Recovery Facility Visitor Centre for information programmes and activities tailored to a wide range of visitors, from school groups to international government officials.

M&W Group Energy Recovery Award: GENeco for its ground-breaking gas to grid anaerobic digestion facility

AMCS Group Best Resources Project in Facilities Management Award: Trinity Leeds (Land Securities) in partnership with Cawleys for its Make Your Mark recycling and waste reduction campaign at the Trinity Leeds Shopping Centre.

Project Innovation Award: Dixons Carphone and DHL Envirosolutions for collaborative working to significantly increase waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling and reuse.

M6 Vehicle Hire Best Innovation in Vehicle, Equipment, Plant & Facilities Award: Vision Techniques for its cyclist safety systems, which have recently been enhanced even further with video analytics to improve blind spot detection.

Achieving Zero Waste Award: DS Smith, for applying the principles of zero waste in a top down process that engages all of its staff and supply chain partners.

Best Recycling Project Award: University of Birmingham Junkbusters scheme, which has been rolled out nationally in partnership with the British Heart Foundation to over 60 universities.

Sustainable Construction & Demolition Project Award: R Collard Ltd for innovative practices during the demolition of the Thales facility in Gatwick which allowed the project to achieve a 99% waste recovery and reuse rate.

Health & Safety Best Practice Award: Hills Waste Solutions Ltd for a robust and ongoing health and safety campaign that has delivered significant results, including a 40% drop in its RIDDOR reportable accident rate.

Effective Marketing & Communications Campaign Award: Surrey Waste Partnership for its county-wide campaign 'From Torn to Reborn' to encourage clothes and textiles recycling.

Industry Leader of the Year: Julian Glasspole, Chairman of the AW family of companies and Managing Director of Vehicle Weighing Solutions, for his business flair, strong work ethic and commitment to the industry.

Catalyst Corporate Finance Fast 50 Award: Agrivert Group for the highest two-year compound annual growth rate.

Celebrating learning in waste and resource management
CIWM also used the ceremony to recognise professional learning and dissemination, with a number of bursaries, research grants and awards.

The importance of good data was this year's favourite for the James Jackson Award, which was presented to Professor David Wilson MBE and nine other co-authors1. Their paper, entitled 'Wasteaware benchmark indicators for integrated sustainable waste management in cities', looked at the data challenges around performance measurement and comparison.

The Roger Perry Award for Best Research Paper went to Edward Cook for his Masters' thesis on 'Optimising the non-biological outputs of Mechanical Biological Treatment facilities'.

The James Sumner Award, comprising a bursary of £1000 for travel to an international conference, went to Managesh Gharfalkar, a PhD scholar at Teeside University, who attended the Sardinia Symposium 2015 and presented a paper entitled 'Resource effectiveness tool: a decision making tool for reducing waste and resource consumption'.

The Waste Regulation Award 2015 winners, for their paper entitled 'Environmental (waste) compliance control systems for UK SMEs', were Professor Ian Williams and Simon Kemp of Southampton University and independent consultant Dr Chris Wilson.

This year's best presentations to CIWM regional centres, recognised through the Ben Heath Certificates, came from:
Aoibhearnn O'Brien (Republic of Ireland) Sam Kirk (London & Southern Counties)
Robin Baird (Scotland) Wendy Barratt (South West)
Maureen Darrie (Midlands) Dave White (East Anglia)
Brian Mayne (Wales) Mark Durkan MLA (Northern Ireland)
Paul Tripp (North East) David Buxton (North West)

The PEEL People's Cup, recognising team excellence in the operation of licensed or permitted waste facilities, was awarded to the team at GENeco's Bristol Treatment Centre, which accepts commercial liquids, food waste and sewage waste. In addition to extensive experience and responsibilities that include compliance, customer service and plant optimisation, the team also demonstrated a strong and proactive management system for health and safety.

Finally, other CIWM Professional Awards were presented earlier this year. The Bill Townend International Member's Award, comprising a bursary of £1000, was awarded to Richard Davison, a Chartered Waste Manager in Dubai who used the money to attend the 2015 RWM in partnership with CIWM event in Birmingham in September. The £2000 JC Dawes bursary was awarded to Chartered Waste Manager Mike Hibbert to fund research into the manufacture and use of foam glass insulation board and gravel from green and mixed cullet. More recently, Maurice Golden received the Scottish Waste and Resource Sector Award at the Scottish Resources Conference last month. Maurice, a campaign manager for Keep Scotland Beautiful, will be using the £2000 bursary to visit several Nordic countries to understand different approaches to waste and resource management training provision.

"Knowledge, competence and professionalism are critical to maintain progress on waste and resource management, both here in the UK and across the world," said CIWM chief executive Steve Lee. "As well as setting an example to other professionals in the sector, these winners have made a significant contribution to improving understanding and developing solutions to a range of waste and resource management challenges."

More details of the award winners will be available at www.ciwmawards.com

ENDS

For high resolution photographs of the award winners, please email cassia.house@ciwm.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

1. The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) is the leading professional body for the waste management sector representing over 6000 individuals in the UK and overseas. Established in 1898, CIWM is a non profit-making organisation, dedicated to the promotion of professional competence amongst waste managers. CIWM seeks to raise standards for those working in and with the sector by producing best practice guidance, developing educational and training initiatives, and providing information on key waste-related issues. Comprehensive information about CIWM can be found at www.ciwm.co.uk

Press contact:

Pat Jennings
Head of Policy & Communications
Tel: 01604 620426
Mob: 07912 228260
E-mail: pat.jennings@ciwm.co.uk