A recycling business servicing a vast area of the Gulf region has won a state-wide Change Maker Award for the second year running.
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Based in Normanton, Gulf C4C operates container refund points through the Containers for Change scheme that covers an area of 173,000 square kilometres - more than double the size of Tasmania.
On Friday night they were named the winner in the category of Community Engagement for small to medium business at the annual Change Maker Awards in Brisbane.
In 2020 Gulf C4C won a similar honour in the Customer Focus category.
The Containers for Change scheme operates more than 320 Container Refund Points across Queensland, exchanging a 10-cent refund for every eligible container returned to a registered refund point.
The efforts Gulf C4C take to provide recycling to their remote communities is immense, and the secret behind their success in the award category.
They have now ensured more than 4 million beverage containers have been recycled in the remote communities, which equates to over $400,000 in refunds going back to local residents, charities, community groups and businesses.
"We frequently engage and connect with residents, business owners and various organisations throughout the wider Gulf region, encouraging them to get involved with the Containers for Change scheme," said Gulf C4C operator Annie Cork.
Mrs Cork said they covered the four Gulf shires of Burke, Carpentaria, Croydon and Etheridge.
"We love what we do, albeit with some logistical challenges in providing services to a region with extremely limited resources," she said.
"We must frequently think outside the box in engaging our clientele, and in providing first class services on the ground to the people in these isolated locations."
She said Gulf C4C's has encouraged every school, pre-school and kindergarten in the Gulf to actively collect beverage containers to raise money for their organisations, a community-minded approach working wonders by raising recycling rates and reducing landfill.
"We are making sure our small and diverse demographic of 3,380 people in this part of North-West Queensland receive services that city and larger regional areas are accustomed to," she said.
"We try to do this with as much friendliness, consistency and professionalism as possible."
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
