Last Updated on Thursday, 14 March, 2024 at 10:48 am by Andre Camilleri
Schools, regional councils, NGOs, companies, and individuals are among the winners of the 11th edition of the Malta Waste Reduction Awards, organised by WasteServ. This event, held in conjunction with the European Week for Waste Reduction, commended exemplary efforts to foster waste reduction initiatives in the community.
This year’s awards were focused on packaging waste, and its impact on the environment. Participants were invited to showcase their actions to reduce, reuse and recycle waste. A panel of experts evaluated the submissions and selected the winners, who were awarded a total of €22,000 in prizes to help them support further waste reduction endeavours.
In commending the participants, the Minister for the Environment, Energy, and the Regeneration of the Grand Harbour Miriam Dalli emphasised the important role of fostering environmentally conscious behaviours and encouraging sustainable waste practices. “These initiatives underscore the importance of everyone’s contributions and show that collective efforts, no matter how small, are instrumental in stimulating positive environmental changes,” said Minister Miriam Dalli.
WasteServ CEO Richard Bilocca congratulated all participants and noted that these events provide a continued impetus to encourage more people to engage in waste prevention and separation. “Following the positive results in waste separation achieved last year, such events motivate different stakeholders to play a more active role in waste prevention and separation,” stated Richard Bilocca.
Notably, for the first time, three schools were acknowledged for their outstanding actions. The schools securing the awards were St Jeanne Antide College Immaculate Conception School, placing third, followed by St Francis School Victoria and St Paul’s Missionary College in first place. These educational institutions shared a €6,000 prize, to help them come up with new environmental projects and initiatives.
The event also recognised the outstanding efforts of the Regional Councils in advancing waste management in their localities. Prizes were awarded to the top three Regional Councils, being Port Regional Council, Gozo Regional Council, and Western Regional Council.
The European Week for Waste Reduction is the largest campaign in Europe aimed at promoting waste prevention and aiming to inspire and encourage different community actors to develop impactful actions towards this goal. This year’s campaign, focusing on food waste, will take place between the 16th and the 24th of November.
The winners of the 11th edition of the Malta Waste Reduction Awards are:
- Waste Reduction Award in Public Administration – Kunsill Lokali l-Isla
- Waste Reduction Award in Associations Category – St Jeanne Antide Foundation
- Waste Reduction Award in Schools Category –St Paul’s Missionary College
- Waste Reduction Award in Clean-up Awareness – Żibel
- Waste Reduction Award in Business Category – Malta National Aquarium
- Waste Reduction Award in Citizens Category – EcoWrap
- Waste Reduction Award for Best Practice in Most Innovative Initiative – Malta Freeport Terminals Limited
For more information visit www.wsm.com.mt or follow the Wasteserv and Sostenibilità socials.
