Penrith’s innovative programs recognised with Sustainable City Award

The development of a number of innovative programs over the last couple of years has seen Penrith City Council secure two sought-after Keep Australia Beautiful sustainability awards.

Four of Council’s innovative inaugural programs were recognised as finalist nominations across three categories — Recycled Coffee Cups in Road Base (Category: Circular Economy), Textile Drop-off Day and Recycle Your Bicycle — Bike Drop-off and Repair Event (Category: Resource Recovery and Waste Management), and Wheelie Good Repair Skills – Vacation Care Bike Workshops (Category: Communication and Engagement) — with Council winning the Circular Economy Award and the Overall Sustainable Cities Award, which recognises all four nominations.

Penrith Council is one of six councils to receive recognition as a finalist for the Overall Sustainable Cities Award category, which recognises a metropolitan council that has successfully undertaken projects or actions in multiple areas of sustainability and inclusion.

Penrith Mayor Todd Carney said it was an honour to win not only the Circular Economy Award for an Australian-first project, but for Penrith City Council to be awarded the Overall Sustainable City Award for 2023.

Mayor Carney shared “It’s an honour for Penrith to be recognised as the winner of the Overall Sustainable City Award in light of the projects and initiatives we’ve implemented and will be introducing to the community over the next several months.

“Over the last couple of years, Penrith has been a leader in sustainable development across our City, with projects such as the recycled coffee cups into roads, textile and bicycle drop-off days, tree planting, habitat restoration, and other various initiatives.

“Recycling coffee cups into roads is an Australian-first and saw 740m of local roads resurfaced with PAK-PAVE asphalt road base, incorporating 50% of recycled materials including fibres used in single-use coffee cups. It's amazing to see 136,000 coffee cups collected from our Simply Cup collections across the City be put back into the community.”

The Circular Economy Award acknowledges innovation and excellence in product stewardship, product design, resource recovery, and strategic systems operations and planning. Council’s award-winning submission, Recycled Coffee Cups in Road Base collaborated with State Asphalt NSW, University of NSW, and Closed Loop to investigate innovative solutions to single-use coffee cup waste as part of their circular economy strategy.

Mayor Carney added "we take great pride in our sustainability initiatives, and I am pleased that the hard work of our teams and the proactive uptake from our community is being recognised by two prestigious awards.”

More information about Council’s circular economy projects can be found at penrith.city/circulareconomy   

To keep up to date with Council’s sustainable initiatives and waste and recycling programs, visit penrith.city/waste  

About the KABNSW Sustainable Cities Awards 
Keep Australia Beautiful NSW Sustainable Cities Awards Program is a community and environmental awards program for metropolitan communities in NSW. The Sustainable Cities Awards inspire communities to make a genuine and lasting contribution to their area, with partnerships between local authorities, businesses, community groups, schools, and individuals.

Image credit: Paul Benjamin Photography