Lismore City Council, Moonee Valley City Council, the City of Stirling and Lockhart Shire Council were praised for their mobile phone recycling efforts at the MobileMuster Local Government Awards, presented in Melbourne last December.
Now in its second year, the 2008 MobileMuster Local Government Awards, created by the mobile phone industry’s official recycling program, recognise and reward councils across Australia that have implemented effective recycling campaigns, helped increase awareness of mobile phone recycling and encouraged residents to hand in their old mobile phones, batteries, accessories and chargers.
The ‘Top Collector Overall’ award went to Moonee Valley City Council (Vic), while the City of Stirling (WA) was awarded the ‘Best Promoter’, Lockhart Shire Council (NSW) won ‘Top Collector Per Capita’ and Lismore City Council (NSW) was awarded the leading award of the day – the National Excellence Award.
Rose Read, Manager of Australian Mobile Telecommunication Association’s (AMTA) recycling program MobileMuster, congratulated the winning councils for their combined efforts in raising awareness and driving mobile phone recycling.“Moonee Valley City Council in Victoria was awarded ‘Top Overall Collector’ by weight for collecting 202kgs of mobile phones, batteries, chargers and accessories in the last 12 months,” Rose Read said.
“The majority of these mobiles were collected by Moonee Valley’s innovative Re-new program, which collects a range of reusable and recyclable materials through an extension of their existing kerbside collection service.
“Lockhart Shire Council in NSW was named the ‘Top Collector Per Capita’ award, for collecting 8.6kgs of mobile phone handsets, batteries and accessories per 1,000 residents. This is the highest collection rate per 1,000 residents across Australia.”
The Top Collector Per Capita award is a new category introduced this year to recognise the achievements of many of the smaller councils who have heavily encouraged residents to recycle.
The City of Stirling was awarded ‘Best Promoter’ for encouraging mobile phone recycling through various creative channels, including local print media; householder’s guide to recycling; a welcome pack for schools; and incorporating MobileMuster information at community displays and presentations including shopping centres.
Lismore City Council took home the ‘National Excellence Award’ for its efforts in making mobile phone recycling easier and more convenient for residents by setting up a number of drop off points including the Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre; by actively promoting mobile phone recycling through the media and at community events like the Lismore Show; incorporating mobile phone recycling messages in the ‘Waste Wise Ways’ Resource Kit for schools, as well as collecting 95kg in the past 12 months.
Chris Althaus, Australian Mobile Telecommunication Association (AMTA) Chief Executive Officer, said local councils play a critical environmental role.
“More than 90 per cent of the plastics and metals in mobile phones, batteries, chargers and accessories are recovered during recycling and can be turned into items such as jewellery, stainless steel products and plastic fence posts.
“By promoting and participating in mobile phone recycling, local councils are playing an important role in recovering essential metals and plastics for reuse, preventing potentially harmful substances ending up in landfill and reducing society’s demand on our precious natural resources.”
For further information about the MobileMuster Local Government Awards, or to join the program, visit www.mobilemuster.com.au or phone 1300 730 070.
