ANEW recycling village on Middlefield Industrial Estate, South Shields, was recently named best in the country at a national award ceremony.

Nov 6 2007 by Karen Wilson, The Journal

The pioneering Recycling Village is a partnership project with South Tyneside Council and Groundwork, which brings onto one site modern recycling facilities, an education centre and community recycling outlet.

It was crowned civic amenity site of the year at the letsrecycle.com awards for excellence in recycling and waste management, held at London’s Savoy Hotel late last month.

More than 200 entries were received in nine categories this year, celebrating innovation across the local authority retail and business sectors.

Lionel Hehir, executive director of Groundwork in South Tyneside and Newcastle accompanied councillor Nancy Maxwell to accept the award.

He said: “This is a fantastic achievement and recognition of the great efforts and innovation involved in turning a low performing facility into a multi use site which allows visitors to recycle, reuse and renew in one place as well as providing jobs and learning opportunities for South Tyneside’s residents, schools and community groups.

“The community outlet based at the Recycling Village, Renovo, sells a range of green products at affordable prices including composting supplies, water butts, ecological cleaning materials and recycled white goods.

“And it’s benefiting communities creating three jobs and delivering employment and training schemes to support eight local long-term unemployed individuals into work.”

The judges said covered facilities, improved traffic management, clear signage and increased staffing have made recycling more user-friendly.

Sustainability was key to the design of the site, with a water capture and usage system, and both solar and wind power systems.

Since opening in September last year, the Recycling Village has increased recovery rates from 26% to 42%, while performance is now at 64%, well on the way to the council’s 75% target.