Announcing the winners of the APSE Waste, Recycling, and Circular Economy Innovation Awards

APSE is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2025 Waste, Recycling, and Circular Economy Innovation Awards. These awards celebrate outstanding local councils who have used innovative ideas and solutions to tackle the current challenges facing the waste and recycling sector. The awards provide participating authorities with an opportunity to showcase their expertise, alongside the results that they have achieved.

Making hard-to-recycle easier

• Bristol Waste - Nappy recycling
• Bristol Waste - Podback coffee pod recycling at Bristol’s HRRCs
• Renfrewshire Council - WEEE banks
• Merton Council - Recycling Made Accessible: Merton’s Pop-up Tip Service 

Winner: Bristol Waste - Nappy recycling

Circular economy

• Derry City and Strabane Council - Sustainability at Derry Halloween 2024 
• London Borough of Hounslow and ReLondon - Heston in the loop
• North Tyneside Council - Repair and recharge
• Lewes District Council  - Recycled, repowered and ready: Leading the way in fleet electrification

Winner: Derry City and Strabane Council - Sustainability at Derry Halloween 2024 

Behaviour change

Kindly sponsored by  

• Stirling Council - From culture shift to a blueprint for change
• Preston City Council - Every action counts CANvas
• Wigan Council - Online household waste awareness course 
• Derry City and Strabane Council - Foyle Maritime Festival - Beyond Blue Sustainability

Winner: Preston City Council - Every action counts CANvas

APSE Chief Executive Mo Baines said: “We are thrilled to recognise the hard work done by councils to meet the challenges of the waste sector head-on. The winners reflect the wide breadth of innovative projects being carried out and demonstrate an outstanding commitment to delivering public services. Congratulations to all our winners and finalists, we are truly grateful for your dedication in advancing the cause of greening our communities with better waste and recycling and the circular economy.”

The winners were announced at an awards ceremony at the end of the Waste and Recycling Seminar 2025, held at the Nottingham Belfry Hotel, on Thursday 23 October 2025.