29 May 2018

Canberra's businesses recognised at Actsmart Business Sustainability Awards

| Tim Benson
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ACT Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Shane Rattenbury.

ACT Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Shane Rattenbury. Photo: Supplied.

2018 Actsmart Business Sustainability Award winners announced recently included The Canberra Hospital – for having diverted tonnes of waste from landfill – to The Little Hotel that has reduced paper use by over 150,000 sheets by going paperless.

The Actsmart Business Sustainability Awards showcase the outstanding achievements of organisations participating in the Actsmart Business programs.

With the awards in their ninth year, 2018 saw a record 67 nominations for the 10 awards, ranging from Waste Minimisation to Innovation and Leadership.

ACT Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Shane Rattenbury said, “I would like to congratulate all the award winners, businesses, organisations and local events participating in the Actsmart programs.”

“Collectively, we know our efforts are making a real impact. More than one million people were provided with recycling bins and waste advice at some of our major events – including the National Multicultural Festival, Floriade and the Canberra Show,” he said.

The 2018 Actsmart Business Sustainability Award winners include:

Category Winner Achievement Highly commended
Waste Minimisation Elections ACT Upon joining the program in 2009 Elections ACT sent 94% of their waste to landfill. This year they reduced this amount to only 1%. Ausvet Pty Ltd
Biggest Recycler ACT Health Directorate – The Canberra Hospital The Canberra Hospital separates their waste into 9 different steams, and have diverted over 250 tonnes from waste to landfill between May 2017 and February 2018. In the first two months of operation 2.5 tonnes of organic waste has been processed using their new organics machine Feed me Solutions.
Biggest Recycler – Small Event The Earth Festival The Earth festival diverted over 368kg of waste from landfill at their event held in April 2018, with the hope of the event being 100% waste free in the future.
Biggest Recycler – Large Event National Multicultural Festival The 2018 National Multicultural Festival event attracted over 200,000 patrons that recycled an outstanding 8,829kg which would have otherwise gone to landfill. Kicks Entertainment Events PTY LTD / Oktoberfest Parklands 2017
Energy & Water Star Spielwelt German Parents Association & Pfadfinder Scout Group As a result of energy efficient upgrades the Association and Scout Group made, they saw a reduction of over 5,100 kWh of electricity, eliminating 4 tonnes of CO2 pollution and saving over $1,000 on electricity bills per year.
Innovation Excellence Ginninderry Joint Venture The Link by Ginninderry is a sustainability education facility showcasing sustainable building design and practices. Not only do they have 110 solar PV panels with a 10kWH battery storage unit, they also have an ‘Air Bee and Bee’ – a native bee hotel and a frog restoration area. Design Construct Industries
Motivation Excellence Queen Elizabeth II Family Centre The QEII Family team put together a short film to motivate and educate staff and visitors on the importance of responsible waste management, encouraging them to make conscious decisions when dealing with their waste. US Embassy Canberra
Corporate Award Little National Hotel The hotel has reduced over 150,000 printed pages per year by becoming a paperless hotel. They have also installed over 100 solar panels which produce over a third of power used at the hotel.
Small Business Award Bond Hair Religion The salon has committed to make environmental changes. They use easy dry towels which are 100% water saving and biodegradable, installed water efficient taps reducing water by 56%, and only sending 13% of waste to landfill.
Minister’s Award for Leadership Jenni Tarrant – Bond Hair Religion Owner Jenni Tarrant is committed to making a positive environmental change at her salon. She has dramatically reduced waste within the salon, is the national ambassador for RAW hair care products and is working on becoming a paperless business.

Since 2012, the Actsmart Business Energy and Water program has assisted over 780 local small businesses to reduce their energy and water consumption, saving businesses an average of $2,500 on annual energy bills.

“Through the Actsmart Business Recycling program over 50,000 staff are now recycling in their workplaces and have diverted the equivalent of 137,000 domestic recycling bins from landfill,” Minister Rattenbury said.

Is your workplace doing something innovative in the sustainability space?

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