21st October 2009 - Press Release

Incoming CIWM President hosts 2009 Professional Awards

In front of over 100 invited guests, the new 2009/10 CIWM President Terry March was inaugurated yesterday at One Great George Street, London.

Terry, who takes over the mantle from Hugh Hoather, spent a large part of his career in local government waste services before establishing his own waste management consultancy. He has been Secretary of the CIWM's South West Centre for over 20 years and a General Councillor since 1987, and has been heavily involved with Institution affairs. He was the first Chairman of the Education Training & Membership Committee and sits on the Executive Committee.

In his presidential address, Terry focused on the importance of skills in the industry, particularly given the growing range of technologies being employed, and made a strong plea for training to remain a priority even in these economically constrained times.

"Education and training is one of those areas of business that we often tend to take for granted; but it is a vital element of any organisation's development and survival. Unfortunately, during times of downturns in the economy, it can be seen by some as a dispensable option which can be cut or deferred until better times. This, of course, is an extremely short sighted view - when the going gets tough an organisation needs an appropriately skilled workforce to be ready to take advantage of the upturn when it comes."

The inauguration ceremony was followed by the CIWM Professional Awards, which celebrate skills and knowledge across a wide spectrum of waste management activities. In total, eight awards were presented:

• The Roger Perry Award for Best Research Paper 2009 went to Elena Deryagina for her Masters paper 'Investigation of the sustainability of the recycling activity in the city of Kingston Upon Hull by auditing the carbon footprint of the black box recycling scheme'.

• The James Sumner Award 2009, comprising a bursary of £1000, went to Irina Arakelyan from AEA Technology, who will use the money to visit the ISWA/DAKOFA Waste and Climate Conference in Copenhagen this December.

• The Waste Regulation Award 2008 was presented to Ian Blenkharn for his paper 'Quo vadis? Science and regulation as uneasy bedfellows' (Open Waste Management Journal 2008, Vol I, p1-3).

• The J C Dawes Bursary for £2000 was awarded to Victoria Bond who will travel to New Zealand to look at zero waste initiatives.

• The James Jackson Award 2008 went to James Baird, John Crawford and Tim Reid for their paper 'Developing a household waste collection policy to accommodate alternate weekly collections' (Waste & Resources Management: a shared responsibility, Waste 2008 Conference Proceedings).

• PEEL People's Cup 2009 was awarded to Cowbridge Compost Ltd for providing excellent career, training and social opportunities for their staff. Dacorum Borough Council's Cupid Green Depot was highly commended.

• The Geotech Award 2009, a new award comprising a £1500 bursary, went to Kofi Adu-Gyamfi for his paper 'Renewable energy, landfill gas, and EfW - now, next and future', presented on the day.

Finally, bringing an element of competition to the proceedings, the Ben Heath Award for the best presentation was judged on the day by the audience. Shlomo Dowen from United Kingdom Without Incineration Network (UKWIN) and Jonathan Mead from Dow Corning were the two finalists and the vote went with Jonathan for his presentation on 'Economic costs of waste management for business'.

Chris Murphy, deputy chief executive of CIWM, said: "Terry will bring a wealth of education and training knowledge to his new role, and will be a fitting ambassador as the Institution looks to use its body of knowledge to encourage greater sharing of best practice and expertise."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) is the leading professional body for the waste management sector representing over 7000 individuals in the UK and overseas. Established in 1898, CIWM is a non profit-making organisation, dedicated to the promotion of professional competence amongst waste managers. CIWM seeks to raise standards for those working in and with the sector by producing best practice guidance, developing educational and training initiatives, and providing information on key waste-related issues.

2. The CIWM 2009/10 Presidential team comprises:
President: Terry March
Senior Vice President: Barry Dennis
Junior Vice President: Derek Greedy

3. Comprehensive information about CIWM can be found at www.ciwm.co.uk

Contacts:

Pat Jennings
CIWM Communications Manager
Tel: 01604 620426
Mob: 07912 228260
E-mail: pat.jennings@ciwm.co.uk