Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) is encouraging businesses, government organisations, community groups and individuals who have shown leadership in environmental protection to enter the 2018 Premier's Sustainability Awards.
EPA is sponsoring the Environmental Protection award that acknowledges excellence in work that proactively prevents harm to Victoria’s environment and people from pollution or waste.
EPA Chief Executive Officer, Nial Finegan said the award category is one of 10 awards, which recognise Victorians who are helping to build a sustainable future.
“Environmental protection means different things to different people, but increasingly it’s about sustainability and doing what we can to support a healthy environment – now and into the future,” Mr Finegan said.
“As Victoria’s environmental regulator, it’s EPA’s job to work with Victorians – from large business to community groups and individuals – to help them understand and contribute to protecting the beautiful environment we all enjoy.
“The Environmental Protection Award is about acknowledging those who are stepping up to play their part and profiling projects that are preventing or reducing harm to our environment and communities from pollution and waste.”
Eligible entries can include initiatives that prevent harm through specially developed technology or equipment; changes in practices and processes; and education programs, resources or activities that have informed the community or businesses and helped people be active participants in protecting their environments.
“We encourage any eligible group or individual who has reduced environmental impact or come up with new and more sustainable ways of protecting our precious environment to enter,” Mr Finegan said.
Finalist in the 2017 Environmental Protection category, Yarra Valley Water, constructed a waste to energy facility next to the Aurora Sewage Treatment and Recycled Water Treatment Plants in Melbourne’s north to combat the effects of drought. One hundred tonnes of commercial organic and food waste, previously destined for landfill, is being processed every day into biogas via anaerobic digestion.
Entries for the Premier's Sustainability Awards close at 5pm on Thursday 7 June. Finalists will be announced in mid-August and invited to attend the awards ceremony on Thursday 11 October. To enter and for more information, visit www.sustainabilityawards.vic.gov.au