Councillor Lisa Chambers, Portfolio Holder for Waste at Suffolk County Council is going to the House of Common's today to collect a Green Apple award for Environmental Best Practice.
Councillor Lisa Chambers, Portfolio Holder for Waste at Suffolk County Council is going to the House of Common's today to collect a Green Apple award for Environmental Best Practice.
The trophies will be presented by former Bond girl, Alexandra Bastedo, at an event hosted by Rt. Hon. Patricia Hewitt, MP.
The award is for our innovative Reuse and Recycling Capital Grant Fund for Community and Voluntary Organisations.
The Reuse and Recycling grant is awarded to community and voluntary sector groups who undertake various reuse and recycling projects and at the same time provide placements to adults with learning and /or physical difficulties or who are otherwise excluded from the workforce.
In the first year of the grant (08/09), nine very diverse projects received funding for a range of capital items. The projects funded included three furniture projects who refurnish and redistribute second-hand furniture, one food bank that redistributes food to those on low incomes, a community landscaping and gardening project that composts all green waste and recycles rubbish from overgrown and previously unmanaged gardens, the Suffolk Real Nappy Network that promotes reusable nappies, a quilting project and a garden furniture making project all of whom provide work placements.
The types of items that were purchased with the funding included vans for transporting furniture for reuse, a number of sets of re-usable nappies for trial kits, a sewing and binding machine and other essential machines for a quilting project, a forklift truck for a food redistribution warehouse and a briquette machine to turn waste sawdust from a garden furniture workshop into wood fuel briquettes for sale.
In the first year of funding, these projects have diverted approximately 500 tonnes of waste from landfill and provided work placements for some 140 trainees/volunteers and other staff over the past year.
There is still funding available for this year, the deadline is December 11, 2009. Go to http://www.suffolkrecycling.org.uk for more details
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