COMMUNITY RECYCLING NETWORK
FOR SCOTLAND (CRNS)
NEWS RELEASE
27 November, 2008
TOP SCOTTISH COMMUNITY RECYCLING ORGANISATIONS
TO BE HONOURED
The social, economical and environmental benefits of
community recycling were underlined today (November 26), as the search to find
the best organisations in the sector got underway.
The Community Recycling Network for Scotland (CRNS) 3rd
Annual Awards, which recognise and reward those organisations which have made
the biggest impact to local communities across Scotland in the past year, were
launched as figures showed that this sector now accounts for an annual turnover
in excess of £26 million – an increase of more than 20% over the previous 12
months.
This year’s awards were launched by CRNS Event
Coordinator Joyce Walsh, and John Ferguson, Waste and Resource Unit Manager from the Scottish
Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA). The launch took place at SEPA’s
corporate HQ in Stirling.
SEPA are one
of the sponsors of this year’s awards ceremony, alongside principal
sponsors The Co-operative Membership. Other sponsors include The Yellow Pages
Directory Recycling Scheme, Triodos
Bank, Social
Investment Scotland, Aylesford
Newsprint and aluminium can recycler Novelis.
Novelis
were responsible for producing the metallic trophy displayed at today’s launch,
which is manufactured entirely from recycled aluminium cans.
The CRNS Annual Awards ceremony will take place on 11 March, 2008
at Perth Concert Hall.
SEPA’s John Ferguson commented: “SEPA
believes the community sector has a significant role to play in moving towards
a zero waste society, particularly through the promotion of waste prevention
and reuse and in the areas of education and training.
“This is the second year that we have sponsored the CRNS Innovation
Award, because we believe it encourages fresh ideas and new ways of working
across the community network.”
Community
recycling is a grassroots movement undertaken by a wide array of organisations
to deliver social, economic and environmental benefits for their local
communities. The scale and delivery of projects can vary, from those led by
large social enterprises and third sector organisations to smaller, less
formalised projects led by local volunteers.
CRNS is a membership organisation for community recyclers in Scotland, providing information and support to existing and emerging projects. It
exists to build a stronger community recycling sector in Scotland which can create real social, environmental and economic benefit within
our local communities.
CRNS’s Joyce Walsh said:
“Community recycling provides an increasingly important role in many people’s
lives, complementing traditional recycling by diverting materials from
landfill, reusing and minimising waste, as well as delivering a range of social
and economic benefits to local communities across Scotland.
“Often working in
partnership with local authorities and other stakeholders, community recycling
organisations treat waste materials as a valuable resource that can be reused or
sold to provide income for various activities.
“The sector employs over
1,100 people nationally, as well as offering another 950 training places and
providing 3,200 volunteer opportunities.
Additionally, 68,000 people are
supported, mainly through the reuse of furniture and white goods, and 73,000
tonnes of waste diverted from landfill as result of community recycling.
“With a national turnover in excess of £26m, the
community recycling sector cannot be underestimated. That is why we are once again keen to
recognise those organisations which have excelled over the past year.”
Community recycling organisations, large or small,
from up and down the country are being invited to enter categories including
CRNS Member of the Year, Innovation Award and the Local Authority Partnership
Award.
Previous winners have
said that they have experienced a range of benefits since they picked up their
awards.
Re-JIG, which is
a small community recycling charity run by a small committee of
local people on Islay, won
the 2006 Innovation Award for devising a way of turning used cooking oil from
local businesses into environmentally friendly bio-diesel which is used to run everyday
vehicles.
Re-JIG Project
Manager David Protherough said:
“Winning the
award boosted our staff and volunteers’ morale and increased our profile which
has helped us onto even greater success. It’s also helped to put us in touch
with other like-minded projects in other parts of the country and share our
experiences to help others.”
Fife based FEAT Enterprises, which helps people
with disabilities or other disadvantages to find employment, won the 2005 CRNS
Member of the Year Award. FEAT Enterprises’ Chief Executive, Pauline Hinchion, commented:
“The
award was recognition that the community recycling sector welcomes innovative
approaches to recycling. For us at FEAT Enterprises, the award raised our
profile which helped us to win new contracts.
“There
are numerous other successful community recycling projects all over Scotland,
but too often their achievements go unnoticed. These awards are a great way of
recognising excellence in this vital sector.”
The
Awards are open to all CRNS members and nominations can be submitted online at www.crns.org.uk/index/mtr08
Closing date for nominations is Friday
11 January 2008.
The Community Recycling Network for
Scotland (CRNS) is a membership
organisation for community recyclers in Scotland. It exists to provide a one-stop-shop for
information and support to existing and emerging projects. Its mission is to
build a stronger community recycling sector in Scotland. CRNS is a registered Scottish charity and a
company limited by guarantee. CRNS is supported by the Scottish Government through
the Strategic Waste Fund.
More Than Recycling 08, the CRNS 3rd Annual
Conference and Awards is principally sponsored by the Cooperative Membership,
part of the Co-operative Group. With
corporate values including self-help and social responsibility, the
Co-operative Group has already implemented many measures which aim to reduce
climate change. These include
introducing the UK’s largest solar panel scheme and
opening their own recycling facility.
There are 3 categories of Awards:
·
The CRNS Member of the Year,
sponsored by Novelis Recycling the world’s largest aluminium rolled products
producer and the largest recycler of aluminium drink cans.
·
The Innovation Award, sponsored by SEPA,
which provides an
efficient and integrated environmental protection system for Scotland, to improve
the environment and contribute to Scottish Ministers’ goal of sustainable
development.
·
The Local Authority Partnership
Award sponsored by The Yellow Pages Directory Recycling Scheme. The
Scheme works with local authorities and environmental organisations across the UK to encourage households to recycle
old Yellow Pages directories, via kerbside schemes, recycling banks and
schools.
- Log in to post comments