Two Regional Councils were winners of the 2022 Local Government WasteSorted Award for their GREAT games and School Waste Education Day.

The Resource Recovery Group (RRG) and the Western Metropolitan Regional Council (WMRC) worked collaboratively to co-create the GREAT Games education materials to communicate positive waste behaviours to the community in fun and engaging ways.

Annual Awards

The top performers in Western Australia’s recycling and waste industry were celebrated last night at the 2022 WasteSorted Awards which acknowledge innovative solutions to reduce waste and celebrate the champions whose efforts assist with achieving the targets in Western Australia’s Waste Strategy.

This year, 38 finalists competed across 10 categories, showcasing the achievements of individuals, businesses, government, schools, community organisations and not-for-profits

The Hon Minister for Environment, Reece Whitby MLA was at the event to present the awards.

Educating beyond kerbside recycling

Resource Recovery Group Deputy Chair Cr. Karen Wheatland said between the two regional councils, the GREAT Games are currently reaching over 172,000 residents and are available to 63 schools.

“By educating beyond kerbside bin recycling, GREAT Games encompasses messages of gifting, recycling, earth-cycling, avoiding, and taking items to be safely disposed of or recycled,” she said.

“To become a sustainable society, it is important to successfully educate our youth, and this is what the GREAT Games strive to achieve.”

A School Waste Education Day (SWED) was also created as part of the project, which is a unique offering to primary schools involving the whole school, teachers and parent helpers where each year group in turn, learns about the GREAT characters and plays the GREAT Games in a single day.

GREAT teamwork

The GREAT Games project is the first time two Regional Councils have collaborated on such a level.

Staff from the Communication and Waste Education at both WMRC and Resource Recovery Group brought together different skills and ideas to create this resource.

‘The team was inspired to address residents’ confusion about recycling and waste and the need for consistent messaging,” WMRC CEO Stefan Frodsham said.

“It’s been great to put our heads together to create fun and engaging ways to educate about waste and recycling.”

“Congratulations to everyone involved!”

– Ends –