by Francesca Morra
Yesterday, Tuesday, the 19th of June, the award ceremony of the third edition of the European Week for Waste Reduction was held at the Maison de la Chimie in Paris. In recent weeks, a jury of experts evaluated the awareness on waste reduction that most stood out among the more than seven thousand actions throughout the old continent (and beyond). Prizes were awarded to five categories, one for each kind of project development facing the European project: public administrations, associations and NGOs, businesses, schools and other (hospitals, nursing houses etc.). The work of the jury must not have been easy, but came eventually to a mutual agreement. These are the winners:
Administration/public authority category: The multi-use Styria Bottle - Specialised Division FA19D Waste and Material Flow Management, Styrian Chamber of Agriculture, Styrian winegrowing enterprises (Styria, Austria) - A campaign carried out across the Styrian region as a partnership between the public administration and the private sector, to increase the quantity of “Steiermarkflaschen” (Styrian wine bottles) that are refilled after their first use. Association/NGO: Waste Reduction Awareness Project - Junior Chamber International Izmir (Turkey) - A broad campaign involving trainings in 19 schools in Izmir, a businessmen meeting on sustainable waste management, a coastal clean-up and a booth in a supermarket.
Business/industry: Green Week - Queen’s University Elms Village (Belfast, UK) - Several activities implemented in a residential area housing around 1800 students, including in particular clothes, books and games swapping, a cook book and the handing over of ripped vegetables for free.
Educational establishment: 49% Less Food Wasted in Bjurhovda School Restaurant - Bjurhovdaskolan/IDA unit (Sweden) - A project to reduce the amount of food waste in the school restaurant and showing the results by putting small balls in a transparent tube visible in the restaurant.
Other: Better take care of the environment by reducing waste - Medica (France) - A project taking place in 162 nursing houses throughout France, which involved about 10000 dwellers and 7000 employees. Activities involved for instance cooperation with school kids to knit stoles from wool bits and give them away to the red-cross association, cooking workshops and composting trainings.
The Jury’s favourite: As a Jury’s favourite award this year, the Jury has decided to deliver a special prize to highlight the high and constant quality of the actions nominated in Catalonia during the 3 editions of the European Week for Waste Reduction Awards Competition. This special prize has been handed out to the Organiser of the Week in Catalonia, the ARC (Catalan Waste Agency).
The full list of candidate actions is on the official website of the European SERR.
All winners were given a symbolic plaque and the European Waste Reduction Trophy created by F. de Ribaucourt. The climate in the awards ceremony was marked by a palpable atmosphere of celebration and satisfaction, manifested primarily by the members of the European Secretariat. The award ceremony was held inside the first "Rencontres de la prevention des européennes déchets" series of conferences and meetings on the reduction of waste and the SERR, which Envi return to speak in more detail in the next week. If you wait to see what the organizers decided on the future of the "Week" save the date: European Week for Waste Reduction 2012 will take place from the 17th to 25th November 2012!
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