The Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Ryan Smith, has announced the 20 finalists in the Premier’s Sustainability Awards 2013, with the winners to be named at an awards ceremony in Melbourne on 22 October.
Victoria-based business, Earthco Projects is one of three finalists in the Innovative Products and Services category for its PolyCom Stabilising Aid, a polymer-based product designed to stabilise and strengthen soils and quarry materials. The product was on show in the Exhibitors Hall at the 2013 International Public Works Conference in Darwin.
PolyCom is predominately used for unsealed rural road construction and maintenance, but has other applications including sealed road construction, embankment stabilisation, rural airport strips and transport yard handstands.
Now in its 11th year, the Premier’s Sustainability Awards celebrate efficient use of water, resources and energy, better waste management and recylcling practices, the enhancement of the environment and effective, practical community action.
Innovative Products and Services Category
Department of Environment and Primary Industries & Department of Education and Early Childhood Development – Schools Water Efficiency Program.
Earthco Projects Pty Ltd – Changing Victoria’s unsealed road network to an asset rather than a liability by using a PolyCom Stabilising Aid
ModWood Technologies Pty Ltd – Flame Shield® (a wood-plastic composite designed and manufactured in Victoria)
Infrastructure and Buildings Category
Glen Eira City Council – Glen Eira Sports & Aquatic Centre
RMIT University – RMIT Swanston Academic Building
Surf Coast Shire – Surf Coast Shire Community & Civic Project
Environmental Protection Category
Mallee Catchment Management Authority – Restoring the balance – the Hattah Lakes environmental watering program
Phillip Island Nature Parks – Saving Summerland – A Peninsula for penguins
Yarra Ranges Council – HabitAT School (protecting local wildlife)
Community Category
Earthwatch Institute Australia – ClimateWatch (technology to enable citizen science)
Moonee Valley City Council and Wingate Avenue Community Centre – Ascot Vale Housing Estate Household Recycling Project
St Kilda Mums – St Kilda Mums (re-using and re-cycling baby and children’s products)
Education Category
Bentleigh Secondary College – Bentleigh Secondary College: A Very Sustainable School
Monash Sustainability Institute – Embedding sustainability in first year engineering
The Patch Primary School – The Patch Primary School Learning Landscape
Small and Medium Enterprises Category
GWMWater – Recycling redundant infrastructure for multiple benefits
Rae-Line Pty Ltd – Environmental Sustainability Initiatives in Manufacturing
Large Business Category
Cabrini Health Limited – Utilising ISO 14001 Certification across a large Hospital Network
Mirvac Group – Victorian portfolio
Victoria Carpets – Energy and Emissions Reduction: Bendigo Plant
Tourism Category
No finalist was selected for the Tourism category.