Green Groups Nominated for Awards

Two Glasgow groups who aim to reduce waste going to landfill by recycling scrap material, are in the running for a Scottish Waste and Resources Award.

Spruce Carpets in Govan and Community Can Cycle in Castlemilk have been shortlisted in the Best Community Sector Initiative. They will be up against one other contender, Edinburgh based Changeworks. The awards take place at the Hilton Hotel, Glasgow as this issue of the LOCAL NEWS is being distributed.The awards are led by Eventful Scotland, a partnership which includes the Scottish Government and the Community Recycling Network for Scotland.

Spruce Carpets which was named Social Enterprise of the Year by Scottish Business in the Community earlier this year, began life in 2005. The team recycle good quality surplus carpets destined for landfill by cleaning them. The refurbished items are then sold for a fair price in their Govan showroom. This creates training and employment opportunities through the processing, resale and fitting of the floor covering.

Community Can Cycle started in 2000 and operates an aluminium and steel can and glass bottle collection service. It recycles and sells the material to reprocessing companies. This helps to fund their bicycle repair and refurbishment workshop which has given more than 2000 local children access to free bicycle repair services and trains people to do that work.

Izzie Johnston, Spruce Carpets Chief Executive said: ‘Last year we diverted 70 tonnes of waste from landfill disposal and helped more than 1000 houses in the Glasgow area carpet their homes at an affordable cost. We are delighted to be in the running for this award, which is a real testament to the hard work of all our staff and volunteers and to the local communities in which we serve.’

Jim O’Donnell, Founder and Project Development Manager of Community Can Cycle said: ‘Getting to this stage is fantastic news for the charity and the community. Boosting the charity’s profile encourages more people to become involved and helps us to become more successful – it’s great to be in the limelight.’