ODS scoops national best team award

ODS’ Recycling and Waste Team has scooped the Team of the Year Award at a LARAC ceremony in Birmingham earlier this month.

LARAC, The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee is a national organisation that is a leading voice for councils’ views on recycling and waste issues. The LARAC Team of the Year award is one of the most prestigious awards in the waste and recycling industry. The award was given to the ODS team at the 13th annual LARAC awards ceremony, the first to be held in-person since 2019 due to Covid restrictions.

The 2021 awards were hosted by LARAC Chief Executive Lee Marshall. Recycling and Waste Services Manager Maria Warner picked up the award at the Birmingham ceremony.

ODS is no stranger to the LARAC awards, having also won Best Team in 2017.

Delivering first class services

The award has shown that despite the stresses and strains put on the service by the pandemic and lockdown that ODS is capable of facing the challenge and delivering a first class waste and recycling service that has included the introduction of an electric waste collection vehicle into its expanding electric fleet and offering new collection services for coffee pods.

Comments

“It is wonderful for the service to be given this national award for Team of the Year from LARAC, especially in light of the recent challenges.

“It was my honour to receive this recognition on behalf of the whole service, and it is well deserved. The dedicated collection crews, the managers and support services all deserve this. It is a massive team effort and we are immensely proud to not only be ‘doing good’, but to be nationally recognised as being the best team whilst doing it.”
Recycling and Waste Services Manager Maria Warner

“I am hugely proud of our LARAC Team of the Year. I want to congratulate and thank the team members for the effort and dedication they have put into maintaining and improving the service over the last year – a year that has also seen Oxford achieve its highest ever recycling rate just under 53 per cent.”
Councillor Lubna Arshad, Cabinet Member for Parks and Waste Reduction

“The past year has been one like no other. Given the very real and ongoing challenges the pandemic has caused the work you do is quite frankly unbelievable. The way services have kept rolling is nothing short of a miracle and I am in awe of you and salute you all.”
LARAC Chief Executive Lee Marshall