UK COMPOSTING ASSOCIATION 2005 AWARD WINNERS

The United Kingdom Composting Association set up its Annual Awards in 2001 to recognize the work of compost producers to market their products and to promote the benefits of composting and compost. At its Awards Dinner on Nov. 30, 2005, the following honors were given: White Moss Horticulture following customer demand for reduced peat products, the company did extensive process research which led to the opening of the UK's largest composting facility dedicated to media production. Increased compost sales were reported in both retail and professional sectors; Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) for its Sort IU initiative. Over 90,000 households are now served, and by next June 152,000 households will have weekly food residuals and recycling collections. Recycling rates have risen from 14 percent to over 50 percent as SWP spread its separate collection of food residuals over a large area; Earth Tech UK - its commercial scale anaerobic digester enables the Western Isles to develop its recycling and composting collection infrastructure. Initially, the plant will mainly treat the organic fraction of the residual waste stream, but the process will be adapted to accept more source separated food wastes as well as commercial residuals from the local fishing industry. Products will be used in land restoration and to generate electricity for the island; Cambridgeshire Composting Partnership - consists of the County and District Councils, HDRA and the National Trust's Black Gold Project, which promoted composting on all levels of the public, private and community sectors. The partnership increased householder participation in Cambridgeshire recycling from 29 to 44 percent over the past 18 months; Aberdeen Forward - the Best Community Initiative was presented to this company for its active role in improving the way waste is managed in Aberdeen City. Working with the City Council, Aberdeen Forward developed a network of small-scale community composting sites which provided social benefits for young homeless people. Judges were particularly impressed with how the firm engaged the community by encouraging a high level of interaction.