Want Not Waste Not - LARAC award | |
20 October 2017Following strong competition, Cheshire West and Chester Council’s waste management department has won the Best Waste Minimisation or prevention project at this year’s Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) conference celebration awards.The bespoke local charity focussed ‘Want Not Waste Not’ campaign was carried out in the Garden Quarter area in July this year. Local residents were encouraged to donate their unwanted good quality materials for local charity reuse, many of which would usually have been thrown away by students living in the area when they leave university for the summer. Blue hessian bags delivered to the properties were generously filled with clothing, books, utensils, small electrical appliances, pots and pans, cutlery and crockery, bedding and unopened in-date food. Councillor Karen Shore, Cabinet Member for Environment said: “It is excellent news that the Want Not Waste Not project has won this prestigious award. This highlights how successful the project has been and fully supports the work we have carried out to help students recycle more and reduce waste in the area. “All of the items collected have been a huge benefit to our local charities Richmond House, The Bren Project, Save the Family and West Cheshire Foodbank, supporting some of the most vulnerable people in the borough. “Working with Kier, our kerbside collection partners, we intend to introduce an annual Want Not Waste Not collection to encourage students to take the opportunity to donate items they would normally throw out to local charities before they leave the area for the summer. This will not only benefit the environment but also provides additional help to many people.” The Garden Quarter of Chester is close to the University and has historically been the main area for private sector rental housing for students. The nature of the housing in this area presents significant barriers to recycling which can result in poor local environmental quality and customer complaints to the waste management service. The Want Not Waste Not collections have complemented the successful Recycle First service which operates in the Garden Quarter and helped to improve the overall cleanliness in the area. To find out more about the initiative and the Charities involved please visit RecycleFirst.info  Cllr Karen Shore with LARAC Award | |
