Rochford District Council has won another award for its successful recycling scheme.

The Council has been told it is one of the winners in the 2010 Green Apple Awards, for its work on the highly-successful Maximise Recycling Scheme.

Having already won a National Recycling Award last year, the Council’s scheme has been told it is one of the winners in the Environmental Best Practice category of the Green Apple Awards.

The Green Apple Awards began in 1994 and this year has attracted more than 500 nominations. They are organised by The Green Organisation, who recognise, reward and promote environmental best practice around the world.
The Maximise Recycling Scheme was launched in July 2008 and has since reached monthly recycling rates of more than 70 per cent, easily one of the highest in the country.

Rochford District Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, Councillor Michael Steptoe, said: “Once again this award is testament to the hard work of the District’s residents to ensure our scheme is one of the most successful in the country.

Without their efforts, along with the work put in by Council officers, we would not have such high recycling rates and I would like to thank everyone for their efforts and thank the Green Organisation for recognising them with this award.”
The Council will be presented with their Green Apple Award at the House of Commons later this year, when it will find out whether it has won a ‘bronze’, ‘silver’ or a prestigious ‘green’ apple award.