Category 1 – Community Waste Award
Winner: Fair Game Australia
Equip for Sport program is driving community donations of unwanted second-hand sports shoes and equipment that might ordinarily end up in landfill. Since 2011, more than 123,000 sporting items across 33 sports have been distributed to people in need throughout Western Australia – from Kalumburu to Walpole and across Perth Metro.
Highly commended: Michal Zerzan – Parallel Riverfront Apartments
For the past two years, Michal has led significant improvements to recycling and waste reduction at his residence – the Parallel Riverfront Apartment building in Rivervale. He introduced clear bilingual (English and Mandarin) recycling education to make recycling more accessible and clearly understood, which has resulted in improved waste sorting practices and reduced contamination throughout the apartment’s diverse community.
Category 2 – Schools Award
Winner: Ashburton Drive Primary School
The school has transformed sustainability into a student-led, whole-school culture of environmental responsibility by embedding waste reduction, composting, recycling, Caring for Country, and community environmental action into leadership, learning, school operations and local partnerships.
Highly commended: Roebuck Primary School
Roebuck Primary School has embedded sustainability into its culture through student-led environmental initiatives, including composting, recycling, reuse projects, food production and community partnerships. A 2024 student waste audit informed targeted waste reduction priorities after identifying organic food scraps as the school’s largest waste stream.
Category 3 – Business Award
Winner: Total Green Recycling
Total Green Recycling has delivered a significant upgrade to its Welshpool e-waste recycling facility which doubled processing capacity to 8,000 tonnes per annum, strengthening local support for the State’s e-waste landfill ban. They have also introduced advanced sensor-sorting technology to improve recovery, safety and service capacity across metropolitan, regional and remote Western Australia.
Highly commended: Galactic Co-operative WA
A worker-owned technical services business, Galactic Co-operative helps laboratories across Western Australia extend the life of critical equipment and reduce landfill waste. This is achieved through expert repairs, preventative maintenance, refurbishment, custom part manufacturing, and innovative technical solutions that keep assets in service rather than replacing them.
Category 4 – Waste Champion Award
Winner: Tony Berry – Tidy Up
Tony led Tidy Up’s transformation from a traditional waste collection business into a recovery-focused operation. He has implemented systems, infrastructure and community partnerships that maximise reuse and recycling, diverting valuable materials from landfill, and advancing the company’s vision of “life without landfill.”
Highly commended: Wayde Clews – PalletON
Wayde developed and implemented the Timber Pallet Recovery Hierarchy, a circular economy framework that transforms timber pallet waste management by prioritising reuse, repair, remanufacturing and high-value recovery. He also introduced robust environmental measurement and reporting to drive industry-wide sustainability outcomes.
Highly commended: Ibrahim Faseeh – The University of Western Australia
Ibrahim implemented and achieved the highest level of certification on the My Green Lab (MGL) framework within a university research laboratory to reduce waste, improve resource efficiency, and embed sustainable practices into laboratory operations, with a particular focus on minimising single-use plastics and enhancing waste management outcomes.
Category 5 – Waste Team Award
Winner: City of Kwinana
Following the rollout of the three-bin Garden Organics kerbside system, City of Kwinana developed and delivered the AWARE Bin Compliance Program – a face-to-face waste education and data collection initiative that combines advanced waste technology, behavioural insights, and personalised engagement to improve source separation and reduce contamination.
Category 6 – Local Government Award
Winner: City of Stirling
The Illegal Dumping Behaviour Change and Service Alignment Project transformed the City’s response to illegal dumping by combining compliance, education, targeted behaviour change campaigns and improved service design. This prevention-focused waste management model has resulted in a 14% reduction in dumping incidents, and increased use of lawful disposal services.
Highly commended: Town of Port Hedland
Port Hedland has transformed its landfill into a safer, more compliant and community-focused waste recovery facility by expanding recycling services, diverting significant volumes of tyres, e-waste, metals and batteries from landfill, improving infrastructure and safety, and delivering targeted community education to reduce illegal dumping and landfill fires.
Category 7 – Regional Award
Winner: Milligan and the City of Bunbury
Milligan and the City of Bunbury coordinate a thriving monthly Really Really Free Market that attracts around 300 people per event. The event has diverted more than 12 tonnes of material from landfill in six months while fostering reuse, repair, community connection and sustainable behaviours through a practical local circular economy model.
Highly commended: Kununurra Neighbourhood House
Kununurra Neighbourhood House reduces waste and strengthens community wellbeing in the remote East Kimberley. They are diverting thousands of items from landfill and extending the life of donated goods through reuse, redistribution, upcycling and skills-based workshops, while supporting local families, organisations and remote communities.
Category 8 – Community Events and Engagement Award
Winner: City of Kwinana – In the Zone Circular Fashion and Pop-up Op Shop
In the Zone Circular Fashion program and Pop-up Op Shop empowers young people through free clothing reuse, repair and upcycling activities. These reduce textile waste, build practical skills and confidence, while also promoting circular economy behaviours in a socially inclusive community setting.
Highly commended: The Circular Fashion Council – Circular Fashion Festival 2025
Circular Fashion Festival 2025 was Western Australia’s first large-scale public circular fashion event, using creative experiences, repair and reuse activities, and community education to reduce textile waste. The event promoted circular economy behaviours and demonstrated how fashion can drive environmental, social and economic benefits at scale.
Category 9 – Innovation Award
Winner: Edible Cutlery
Edible Cutlery is a waste-prevention initiative that replaces single-use cutlery and cups with edible alternatives, eliminating waste at the source while providing a practical, scalable solution for reducing disposable packaging across hospitality, events and community settings.
Highly commended: General Public Food Co.
General Public Food Co. has embedded waste reduction into its everyday operations through a reusable pizza box system, organic waste separation and reusable cup initiatives that reduce single-use waste, promote reuse and encourage sustainable behaviours across its local community.
Category 10 – Closing the Loop Award
Winner: Tyrecycle
Tyrecycle have created Australia’s first closed-loop conveyor belt recycling system, transforming end-of-life mining conveyor belts into high-value recycled materials for new conveyor belts and demonstrating a scalable circular economy solution for one of the resources sector’s most challenging waste streams.
Highly commended: Foodfolk Australia
Foodfolk has transformed waste management within the aviation catering sector by implementing a closed-loop circular economy system that diverts organic and packaging waste from landfill, reduces emissions, recovers valuable resources and delivers measurable environmental and social benefits at scale.
WasteSorted Award
Total Green Recycling
For almost two decades, Total Green Recycling has been at the forefront of Western Australia's e-waste industry. Founded in 2008 by brothers Michael and James Coghill in their father's garage, the business began by collecting e-waste for local councils before growing into one of WA's leading licensed e-waste recyclers.
In 2025–26, Total Green Recycling delivered a major $2.56 million upgrade to its Welshpool facility, supported by the E-waste Infrastructure Grant and significant company investment. The upgrade doubled processing capacity from 4,000 to 8,000 tonnes a year, strengthening WA’s local recycling capability following the e-waste landfill ban.
The results have been significant: 888 additional tonnes processed in the first year, recovery rates above 70%, doubled printed circuit board recovery, 6.35 new full-time equivalent jobs, and services expanded to 433 additional customer sites across metropolitan, regional and remote WA.
By investing in advanced sensor-sorting technology, Total Green Recycling is improving recovery of valuable metals and supporting the safer management of hazardous materials, including lithium batteries and mercury-containing components.
Through innovation, investment and a strong commitment to environmental outcomes, Total Green Recycling has made an outstanding contribution to WA’s circular economy and is a highly deserving recipient of the 2026 WasteSorted Award.
