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Council takes out World Environment Day award
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Posted: 07/06/2009
WODONGA Council's Sort and Save recycling centre has won a United Nations Association of Australia World Environment Award.
The council was named the winner of the best specific environmental initiative category at the awards on Friday night.
The awards were established in 2000 to acknowledge actions taken at a local level to address global environmental issues.
The council's health and civic services manager Mark Verbaken said the Sort and Save facility in Kane Rd had provided a valuable service to the community and was considered to be an example of environmental excellence.
“The facility opened in November last year and we have been thrilled by the number of people who have used it as an outlet to recycle,” he said.
“People are encouraged to bring along their items, which include general household bric-a-brac, furniture, sporting goods, hand tools, pushbikes, art works and gardening tools, and these items are then on-sold to other members of the community.
“I think one of the reasons we were recognised with this award is because we are a community project, with staff from Kalianna Enterprises undertaking the dismantling of goods, while Corrections Victoria community workers provide labour for the shop operators, The Recovery GAME.”
Wodonga Council and Sustainability Victoria combined resources to build the centre, which cost $480,000 and included $75,000 of funds from Sustainability Victoria.
The centre is also a finalist in the National Awards for Local Government, with the winner to be announced next week, in the category of improving service delivery through collaborations.
