SITA-Taronga Zoo partnership wins Australian Business Award for Environmental Sustainability

SITA Australia was one of nine winners in the Environmental Sustainability category of The Australian Business Awards 2013, acknowledging the company’s role in resource recovery.

Now in its eighth year, the national awards program honours organisations’ industry-leading initiatives and products, assessing the core values of business excellence, product excellence, sustainability and responsibility. This year saw 100 winners in total announced across 20 business and product award categories.

SITA was recognised for its partnership with Taronga Zoo in providing tailored and innovative waste management services with the aim of maximising recycling to divert waste from landfill. The zoo’s public areas produce about 35 tonnes of waste each month, but over 80% of this waste is successfully recovered by SITA and diverted from landfill.

SITA’s Strategy and Development GM, Erin Tinker, said the company was “incredibly proud” to be formally acknowledged for its operations across all levels of the sustainable resource recovery value chain. She added that they were “equally proud to have had our ongoing financial support of the zoo’s endangered Corroboree Frog Program acknowledged”.

SITA’s partnering approach moves beyond the traditional customer-supplier relationship, actively working with clients to provide tailored waste management solutions through both processes and education programs. Taronga Zoo has been one of these partners since 2008.

Alex Halliburton, GM of Capital Works and Infrastructure at Taronga Zoo, said the zoo is “pleased that the environmental sustainability of our operations has been recognised”. He said the partnership “has allowed us to achieve our goals of maximising diversion of waste from landfill”.

Halliburton added, “The financial support from SITA has also been of great assistance with the zoo’s Corroboree Frog Program. The Corroboree Frog is a critically endangered species and without support of corporations such as SITA we could not continue the wildlife conservation work we do.”

The other Environmental Sustainability winners are:

• Club Assist
• Department of Water, WA
• Kimberly-Clark Australia
• Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics Australia
• Oaks Flats Bowling & Recreation Club
• SEQ Catchments
• Staples Australia
• Toxfree Gorgon Project Business Unit