Kirklees Together

We are excited to announce the shortlist for the Kirklees Recycling Heroes Awards which take place on 20 November, at Dewsbury Town Hall.

New for 2024, each of the shortlisted sustainable superstars of Kirklees also have the chance to win the People’s Choice award. Nominations are now open on our website with all residents invited to cast their vote for who they feel is most deserving of this accolade.

Councillor Munir Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Environment and Highways, said:

“The Recycling Hero Awards are in their third year and the judges had just as difficult a time shortlisting the nominees as usual, due to the fantastic work of our residents.

“We are delighted to be able to shine a light on those who have gone above and beyond to make Kirklees a cleaner and greener place to live and work. I can’t wait to meet all of them at our ceremony in Dewsbury Town Hall in November.”

Who made the shortlist?

We would encourage anyone wishing to vote for their People’s Choice to read the shortlist before they cast their vote. The full shortlist for the four awards is as follows.

Business Recycling Hero – Sponsored by The Grapevine Magazine

3M Buckley Innovation Centre (3M BIC) – Huddersfield

The 3M BIC go above and beyond their core business operations finding innovative ways to reduce waste such as using an improved procurement process to cut out single-use plastics, converting food waste into bioenergy, donating unused furniture to charities where possible, utilising a rainwater harvesting system, and more.

BioBax Ltd – Skelmanthorpe

BioBax has created a circular economy through its efforts to reuse, reduce, and recycle by using waste shredded cardboard to replace bubble wrap for void fillings in shipments. They also use water-based paper tape for sealing packages, an eco-friendly alternative to conventional tape which is recyclable and biodegradable.

Grow Refill – Skelmanthorpe

Grow Refill is a refill store and coffee shop that has not only eliminated the need for single-use plastics within its own operations but also acts as a central point for recycling hard-to-recycle materials. Their enthusiasm and encouragement to make small sustainable changes are inspirational in the local community.

Recycling Hero – Sponsored by SUEZ

Karen Hill, Slaithwaite

Karen has set up numerous collection and recycling points in the community, including Nields School and The Ark Church. She also supports Nields School with their recycling garden which she helped to establish, and encourages communities to embrace the circular economy collecting items that can be remade into something else.

Sue Bowyer, Kirkheaton

Sue has been running the One Stop Recycling Hub in Kirkheaton for many years to encourage the community to recycle hard-to-recycle items including used stamps, old coins, printer cartridges, plastic milk bottle tops, mobile phones, and more. Regularly reporting on the Yetton Together website, she inspires the community to get involved with recycling.

Sylvia Pearson

Sylvia uses her creativity to engage and educate children and the community to reduce waste through school lessons, after-school clubs, and evening sessions. She uses recyclable items to create beautiful works of art and shows children (and adults too) that being creative does not have to be expensive.

School Recycling Hero – Sponsored by Leafield Environmental

Nields Academy

Nields Academy has recycled over a tonne of hard-to-recycle items including over 21,000 pens. They are also invested in their garden, where they use food scraps to feed their tiger worms, creating compost. The children are enthusiastic about recycling and understand its importance through these activities.

Scapegoat Hill J&I School

Scapegoat Hill encourage students and the wider community to donate cans to be recycled. Children act as environmental managers to monitor recycling bins for single-use plastics, ensure taps and lights are turned off, and litter pick around the grounds. They also have a school garden with various eco-initiatives including composters and water butts.

Wilberlee J&I School

Wilberlee students took part in a sponsored stomp in the community, litter picking along the way. They placed recycling bins in each classroom, have a banner to encourage cars to slow down to make the air outside the school cleaner and the roads safer, and they’ve formed a gardening club to clean up their woodland area.

Young Recycling Hero – Sponsored by Revive Kirklees

Arlo-Mae and Eadie-Rae MacDonald (twins aged 4)

Arlo-Mae and Eadie-Rae go out litter picking in their local area at least once a week, collecting lots of recyclable materials and learning the importance of caring for the environment.

Henry Pitts (age 5)

Upset at seeing his local park full of litter, Henry went out litter picking every day during the school holidays collecting bin bags full of litter and recyclables which were then disposed of appropriately.

Sienna McLeod (age 13)

Sienna has demonstrated an ongoing dedication to reducing, reusing, and recycling waste. She has learned new skills to upcycle and repurpose old worn-out textiles, cardboard, plastics etc. giving them a practical use.

What happens once the voting is closed?

All of the winners, runners-up, and highly commended will be presented with their awards by the Mayor of Kirklees, Councillor Nosheen Dad at a special reception event at Dewsbury Town Hall.