To find out more about the 2009 award winning projects and initiatives, please click on the category links listed below.

1. Best Resource Management Project
2. Best Partnership
3. Best School Environmental Awareness Campaign
4. Best Investment of PRN Funds
5. Most Innovative Local Authority
6. Best Community Recycling Initiative
7. Consistent Commitment to Developing Environmental Awareness & Sustainability
8. Valpak Recognition of Excellence Award

Best Resource Management Project
Winner - Alara Wholefoods
Alara Wholefoods has become the first organic muesli company in the world, and the first UK company to become a zero waste company. They are currently working on becoming a zero CO2 company, showing continual commitment to their environmental responsibilities. Alara Wholefoods collect and treat/recycle all their waste and have implemented an onsite composter and wormery. They have created a permaculture forest garden on wasteland behind their factory where they dispose of food waste as compost and grow food for the staff canteen. Staff have been encouraged to participate through the introduction of a staff benefits and rewards scheme. They also involve the local community in their garden and use this as an educational tool for children. Business links are encouraged through the use of a box-swapping scheme.

Best Partnership
Winner - West Dunbartonshire Council
The partnership between West Dunbartonshire Council and local social enterprise, Greenlight Environmental Ltd aimed to tackle the issue of recycling in multiple occupancy buildings. They implemented a doorstep collection service for all flats by means of a 55 litre box and overflow bag collected fortnightly. This allowed for the collection of co-mingled recyclate (papers, cardboard, cans, plastic bottles) for 11,300 tenements and high flats. The Council now offers recycling collection services to over 95% of residents (12 years ahead of target), and are currently trialling a glass collection scheme from the same residencies.

Best School Environmental Awareness Campaign
Winner - London Borough of Bexley
Bexley Council wanted pupils in the Local Authority to understand the importance of waste and recycling at school so that waste from schools was reduced. They also wanted to support the promotion of waste minimisation and recycling from households. To interact with schools they sent two trained waste education officers to deliver free activities in schools based around the three Rs, working with over 80,000 children across 83 schools. Over 3500 activities were undertaken with schools which diverted waste from landfill by 60-90% in all participating schools that have been audited. In addition, over 50% of parents completed a waste watch survey, revealing that their children influenced their waste management behaviour at home.

Best Investment of PRN Funds
Winner - Greenstar WES Ltd
Greenstar's efforts focused on maximising the value of waste plastics by adapting technologies enabling the processing of 'difficult' plastics. Greenstar was the first company to commercially produce food grade HDPE plastic and has a near 100% share of the good grade HDPE market. Their pioneering technology developments are now being adopted more widely in the industry, and they were first in the UK to implement an Erema recycling extruder, which resulted in being the first and only UK processor capable of recycling Walkers crisp packs.

Most Innovative Local Authority
Winner - London Borough of Lewisham
The 'Eco-Street' project incorporates various environmental initiatives into the households of residents living within the Rockware Triangle. Holistic environmental proposals included waste recycling, composting, energy efficiency and car use. Aims of the project included promoting composting at source, the promotion of real nappies (the Council offered vouchers), reducing the amount of unwanted flyers through promoting the use of the Mail Preference Service, encouraging people not to purchase excess goods to reduce bulky waste, encouraging households to adopt the 3Rs ethos, and increasing the numbers of committed recyclers in the eco-street.

Best Community Recycling Initiative
Winner - Cardiff Council
In October 2008 Cardiff became the first city in the UK to collect food waste city-wide. Residents of Cardiff were provided with a "Kitchen Caddy" and biodegradable liners for use in the home. Once full, the liners are placed into the external green composting bin, or larger Bio Bags which had already been provided as part of the existing kerbside recycling service for garden waste. A comprehensive FREE distribution network was set up to make the acquisition of liners as easy for residents as possible. From 10 October 2008 residents in every ward of Cardiff could dispose of their food waste in an ethical manor. This was a major milestone for Cardiff in the journey to become a more sustainable and environmentally friendly place to live.

Consistent Commitment to Developing Environmental Awareness & Sustainability
Winner - Islington Council
Islington Council developed a Waste Minimisation and Recycling Action Plan 2008/09, and set an objective to realise a year-on-year reduction of household waste. They developed an innovative work programme, which caused waste arisings to fall by 9.2% saving the council £500,000. The council hit an all time recycling high of over 31%. Activities carried out by the council included: Watch Your Waste Week, a Reduce, Reuse, Recycle campaign, a Love Food Hate Waste campaign and Furniture Reuse Collections.

Valpak Recognition of Excellence Award
Winner - Stephen Didsbury