Environmental awards success for Council
10 March 2017
Aberdeen City Council’s commitment to environmental initiatives has been recognised on the national stage.
TechKnow, Powering Aberdeen and Earth Hour, part of Climate Week 2016, have been recognised at the prestigious Green Apple Awards. The awards are part of an annual international campaign by the Green Organisation, which recognises environmental best practice around the world.
TechKnow, spearheaded by the Council’s Waste and Recycling Team, was selected as National Champion for its innovate approach to encouraging and facilitating the re-use of unwanted electrical items.
A collaborative project between Aberdeen City Council, Enscape Consulting, Re-Tek, and third sector organisations Instant Neighbour, CFINE and Somebody Cares, TechKnow worked to raise awareness of the importance of donating items responsibly and securely.
Councillor Jean Morrison, Vice-Convenor of Aberdeen City Council Communities Housing and Infrastructure Committee said: “Waste created through the disposal of electrical and electronic items is one of the fastest growing waste streams in Europe. Through collaborative working we are bringing specialist skills together to create a sustainable project that has real long-term benefits for the environment and the community.
“These awards great news for the citizens of Aberdeen and the environment, and is testament to Aberdeen City Council’s commitment to green energy. These projects will build on and grow the many projects already taking place in Aberdeen that are supporting reductions in emissions, improving efficiency and in turn improving the quality of life for Aberdeen citizens as well as attracting significant investment.”
Bill McPherson, Projects Director from Re-tek said: “We were delighted to be a partner in the fantastic TechKnow Project, supporting delivery of the workshops with the local school children on ICT re-use activities and processing the goods donated to extend the lifecycle of the product."
Donna Wood, Principal Consultant from Enscape said: “It has been a very positive experience supporting the Council in the delivery of the TechKnow project. The children and teachers have been very enthusiastic and made the project a real success.”
The TechKnow programme was just one of the winners from Aberdeen City Council, with Powering Aberdeen and Earth Hour also picking up awards.
Powering Aberdeen, a collaborative programme that has set out aspirations, commitments and targets designed to help Aberdeen significantly decrease emissions and become a leading sustainable economy in the UK, was recognised for promoting the change necessary to become a smart, low carbon city.
The second award was for an awareness raising campaign for Climate Week and Earth Hour during 2016. Partner organisations worked together to produce a programme of events to engage the public and raise awareness about climate change including switching off lights at city landmarks.
As well as the Green Apple Award, Aberdeen City Council has gained Super Local Authority status with WWF in 2016 for work with partners on Earth Hour and Climate Week events.
The Green Apple Environment Awards were established in 1994 as an annual campaign to recognise, reward and promote environmental best practice around the world. The awards are hosted by The Green Organisation, an independent, non-profit environment group, dedicated to recognising, rewarding and promoting environmental best practice.