Co-op bags green award

IAIN Ferguson, the Co-operative Food’s environment manager (left) and Oldham Councillor, Mark Alcock, receive the Green Apple awards

Council also gets a taste of the action

The Co-operative Group and Oldham Council are the pick of the crop after winning a prestigious “Green Apple” award.

The accolade for partnership working came at the National Recycling Awards 2010.

They have boosted numbers of food-waste bags across the borough to get more local people involved in the council’s weekly food-waste collections.

The initiative has helped to make Oldham Council the largest recycler of food waste in the North.

Since the beginning of the year compostable carrier bags have been for sale at the cost price of 6p in all Co-operative Food stores in Oldham.

Shoppers can carry their shopping, then use the bags to line their food waste bin.

Food waste collected by the council is composted for agricultural and horticultural use across the country, reducing the need for chemical fertilisers which contribute to climate change.

Iain Ferguson, The Co-operative Food’s Environment Manager, said: “Our compostable carrier bags are the only certified bag of their kind in the UK and we are proud to receive this award in recognition of our achievement.”

Councillor Mark Alcock, cabinet member with responsibility for recycling said: “Oldham is now in the top three performing councils for recycling in the Greater Manchester area.

“With help from the Co-operative, the residents of the borough are making a direct impact on the effects global warming has on the world around us.”