Best of luck! Tramore Eco Group announced as finalist for 10th Annual Pakman Awards

Repak has announced that Tramore Eco Group in County Waterford has been shortlisted for the 2024 Pakman Awards - Ireland’s leading national environmental awards.

Celebrating their tenth year, the awards recognise and celebrate excellence in recycling and waste management across businesses, organisations and community groups.

This year’s awards, which take place on October 24, will also see the addition of two new categories including Best Deposit Return Initiative and Best Single Use Plastic Initiative.

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Tramore Eco Group has been nominated for the Environmental Education and Community Initiative award for its dedication to protecting and sustaining local biodiversity in Tramore and educating local residents on the importance of conservation.

Since its establishment, the group has been working towards fulfilling their community biodiversity action plan, which aims to protect the longevity of local ecosystems amidst climate crisis concerns. Through this medium, Tramore Eco Group has initiated a variety of community led projects and infrastructures to protect local biodiversity and ecosystems.

This includes regular beach cleans and litter picking, free weekly pollinator plants meetups, water refill schemes and public fountains, the removal of invasive sargassum seaweed, recycling washed-up beach toys – just to name a few.

Other finalists this year include Lidl Ireland, Aldi Ireland, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, Britvic Ireland, Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard Refurbed, WeCan, Soltec, Eco-Friendly Cups, Rehab Recycling, Native Events, Novelplast, Bridgestone Europe, Clean Ireland, Limerick Polymers Production, Swords Pavilions, NR Rubber Products, and Thorntons Recycling.

Community projects by Dawn Farm Foods Ltd and Global Action Plan CLG have also been shortlisted, alongside University College Cork Tesco ROI and Green Generation waste prevention and awareness initiatives.

Further finalists include Continental Tyre Group Ltd. (Tyre Champion), University College Cork (Waste Prevention Award), CJ Sheeran (Waste Recovery Operator – Household and Commercial), Sullivan’s Country Grocer (Business Recycling Champion), and Soltec (Innovation in Waste Resource Products or Services). Nominees for the ESG Leader award include Maeve McNamara, Boots Ireland, David Duff, Thorntons Recycling and Dennis Spiegel, Lidl Ireland.

Celebrating its tenth year, the Pakman Awards are regarded as one of the most prestigious accolades in the environmental sector, honouring those who lead in sustainability and environmental efforts.

This year, twelve winners will be announced at a ceremony at The Shelbourne Hotel.

Each category winner is eligible for the Overall Pakman Award, which celebrates outstanding achievements in recycling and waste management over the past year.

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Last year’s Overall Pakman Award was won by the grassroots community project, The Killarney Park & The Ross, which promoted Killarney’s transition to a circular economy by becoming the first town in Ireland to phase out single-use coffee cups.

A highlight of this year’s awards will be a charity draw, where three nominated charities or community organisations, each selected by attendees, will receive a €1,000 donation each.

Commenting on the announcement of the 2024 Pakman Awards finalists, Repak CEO, Zoe Kavanagh said: “We have received a tremendous number of entries this year, and I am delighted to announce the category finalists for the 2024 Pakman Awards. This is a very exciting time for Repak, as we celebrate a significant milestone with our 10th annual Pakman Awards. This year’s awards also introduce two new categories: Best Deposit Return Initiative Award and Best Single Use Plastic Initiative Award."

Minister Ossian Smyth, Minister of State with responsibility for Communications and Circular Economy at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications commented: “The 2024 Pakman Awards are a great way to show what people, communities, and organisations can achieve by working together for a more sustainable future. These awards honour those leading Ireland's move to a Circular Economy and help spread awareness about reducing waste and keeping resources useful for as long as possible.”

The complete list of finalists for the Pakman Awards 2024 includes:  

Battery and WEEE Champion – sponsored by European Recycling Platform
Aldi Ireland
Refurbed
Rehab Recycling

Best Deposit Return Initiative – sponsored by Re-turn
Lidl
Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company
WeCan

Best Single Use Plastic Initiative – sponsored by Department of Environment, Climate and Communications
Britvic Ireland
Eco Friendly Cups
Native Events

Business Recycling Champion – sponsored by WEEE Ireland
Sullivan’s Country Grocer
Lidl Ireland
Swords Pavilions

ESG Leader – sponsored by Producer Register Limited
Maeve McNamara – Boots Ireland
David Duff – Thorntons Recycling
Denis Spiegel – Lidl Ireland

Environmental Education and Community Initiative – sponsored by Environmental Protection Agency
Dawn Farm Foods Ltd
Global Action Plan CLG – Glas Programme
Tramore Eco Group

Innovation in Waste Resource Products or Service – sponsored by Enviroguide Consulting
Green Generation
Soltec
Novelplast

Plastic Pledge – sponsored by Repak
Lidl
Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard
Aldi Ireland

Tyre Champion – sponsored by Circol ELT
Continental Tyre Group Ltd
NR Rubber Products
Bridgestone Europe

Waste Prevention – sponsored by Panda
University College Cork
Dawn Farm Foods Ltd
Tesco ROI

Waste Recovery Operator – Commercial and Household – sponsored by Irish Waste Management Association
CJ Sheeran
Thorntons Recycling
Clean Ireland

Waste Recycling and Recovery Facility – sponsored by AMCS
Soltec
LPP
Novelplast

The 2024 Pakman Awards are sponsored by AMCS, Circol ELT, the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, Enviroguide Consulting, Environmental Protection Agency, European Recycling Platform, Irish Waste Management Association, Panda, Producer Register Limited, Repak, Re-turn and WEEE Ireland.