Galway City Council has won a top national award for its bring banks in Knocknacarra, which is the busiest centre in the country.
The Western Distributor Road site was named Bring Centre of the Year at the 2017 Pakman Awards in the Intercontinental Hotel Dublin on Thursday night (October 26 ).
The Pakman Awards, organised by Repak, recognise excellence in waste management and recycling among businesses, organisations, community groups and initiatives in Ireland.
The Knocknacarra bring banks were the busiest in the country last year, handling a total of 293 tons of glass during 2016. They have been among the top four busiest in Ireland every year since 2011.
Cllr Terry O’Flaherty, Chairperson of the Environment, Recreation and Amenity Strategic Policy Committee on Galway City Council, accepted the award on behalf of the City Council.
She expressed her delight at the centre’s success, saying that this is a well deserved award as the bring banks on the Western Distributor Road handle such an enormous amount of glass for recycling and yet are kept in such a good condition.
The Galway City Council take seriously their role in helping to protect the environment and it’s nice to have the work of so many people recognised with a national award like this,” she added.
The bring bank centre, with 12 receptacles for different coloured glass, is run in a partnership between Galway City Council and Glassco Recycling and involves active community engagement with local business and residents.
The City Council have continuously invested in bring banks throughout Galway City as they play a key role in managing waste. The Western Distributor Road centre is the longest established of 13 bring bank locations throughout the city.
The Western Distributor Road bring banks have been developed over the years and CCTV monitoring was installed in 2008 as a deterrent to littering and has proven to be very successful. CCTV has also gathered a lot of user information to help develop the site.
Galway City Council Management Litter Crews regularly clean the Bring Bank Site and actively engage with the users to promote recycling,” she added.
Landscaping adjacent to the site has been added to by local businesses and will be maintained by them on an ongoing basis, while local residents’ associations have also been proactive in managing the bring banks. There are also three Enable Ireland clothes banks at the location.
Galway City Council is currently in the process of completing a city-wide residential environmental campaign ‘Managing your Waste, Caring for our Environment’.
The Council was among three shortlisted candidates for the Bring Centre of the Year at Thursday night’s Pakman Awards, along with Thorntons Recycling and Tipperary County Council. The award was sponsored by the Irish Waste Management Association (IWMA ).
