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Attwood recognises high-flyers in waste reduction

Environment Minister Alex Attwood today recognised the sterling efforts made to reduce waste here when he presented awards to the Northern Ireland winners of the European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR).
~ Wednesday, 25 January 2012

The Minister presented awards to six organisations in recognition of their innovation, good communication, and the potential for their waste reduction activities to be replicated on a much wider scale, with the ultimate aim of reducing overall waste.

The six winners included “Incredible Edible” from Cloughmills, Cross and Passion College in Ballycastle and Unicycle for their school uniform reuse project. A special “Jury’s Favourite” award went to Graham Construction for their week of waste reduction projects.

Funded by the Department of the Environment’s Rethink Waste campaign, the worthy winners received a trophy made from scrap metal including cuff links and horse shoes, which was designed and made by Portadown artist Martin Medlow using reclaimed metal such as horseshoes, bicycle chains, candlesticks and even cufflinks.

The Minister said: “This is the first year that my Department has been involved in supporting the initiative and I’m delighted that so many organisations, groups and individuals not only took part, but also came up with such innovative and creative ideas for reducing waste.

“To have so many companies and groups making a commitment towards reducing waste in the long term is most encouraging, and I hope that the changes and initiatives which took place during the week will now become a part of daily life, with the long-term goal of substantially reducing our contributions to landfill. The aim should be for NI to be ‘a world’ leader in carbon emissions. The success of EWWR and the great work done helps towards this objective.”

Some of the Northern Ireland Award winners have also been nominated for the European EWWR 2011 Awards which take place in Paris in June.

For more information visit the Rethink Waste website or email ewwr2011@wrap.org.uk . For up-to-date information on events happening in Northern Ireland visit the Rethink Waste Facebook page.

Notes to editors:

  1. Photos of winners with the Minister are available on request by contacting the DOE press office.
  2. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) coordinated EWWR activities for Northern Ireland (excluding the Belfast City Council area) on behalf of the Department of the Environment’s Rethink Waste campaign. For further information visit: www.rethinkwasteni.org, contact Alison Curtis EWWR Co-Ordinator NI at ewwr2011@wrap.org.uk. The Awards were funded through the Rethink Waste programme.
  3. Belfast City Council coordinated activities for the Belfast City Council area. For further information visit www.belfastcity.gov.uk, contact Joanne Lowry, Belfast City Council at lowryj@belfastcity.gov.uk.
  4. Around 250 organisations in Northern Ireland, including businesses, schools, councils, charities and retailers, signed up and registered 374 activities to take part in the European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR). Running from 19-27 November 2011, the week focused on highlighting waste reduction activities across Europe and raising awareness of ways in which everyone can reduce waste.
  5. For media queries please contact DOE Press Office 028 9025 6058. Out of office hours, contact the EIS Duty Press Officer on pager 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.