Five of the most effective, innovative and replicable initiatives implemented locally during the European Week for Waste Reduction last November were recently nominated for the 2011 edition of the European Waste Reduction Awards. Nominees from all participating countries will go through a short-listing process and, if selected as finalists, will be invited to the award ceremony being held in Paris this June.

The five local contenders are Le Meridien St. Julians in the business category, St. Clare College Girls Secondary in the education category, Nature Trust’s EkoSkola for the NGO award, WasteServ in the public entity group and Gozo Mosaic in the general group.

Each of the nominees excelled in the activity they organised during the pan European activity last November. Le Meridien St. Julians managed to achieve an 80% reduction in plastic waste from laundry packaging, while St. Clare College Girls Secondary (through its Sustainability Club) created Christmas hampers by reusing products which otherwise would have been thrown out, including 500 used jars, 150 plastic bottles, 100 snack wrappers and 200kg of fruit and vegetables.

Nature Trust organised its annual EkoSkola award ceremony with a difference, where every aspect of the event was tailored to minimise the amount of waste generated. The activity by WasteServ focused on educating the general public on how to reduce food waste, while Gozo Mosaic in collaboration with the Xaghra Local Council organised a pot-decorating activity utilising broken ceramic.

The European Week for Waste Reduction is supported by the Life+ Programme of the European Commission and coordinated locally by WasteServ. For further information visit www.ewwr.eu.