Home News and events News Winners of the 2020 Cornwall Sustainability Awards revealed

Local businesses came together to celebrate the Cornwall Sustainability Awards at a virtual ceremony on Friday 4th December. Even though the event was held virtually the attendees felt part of a larger community all working together to protect and grow Cornwall’s beautiful environment whilst also growing the local economy.

Chris Packham gave a rousing call to action in his keynote speech. He said: “We must all stand shoulder to shoulder to make the difference we need for the environment. Our world needs us, and it needs you more than ever!”

He put an emphasis on community and the fact that we are all connected to nature. He said: “Don’t be afraid, don’t be small, we all have a voice, raise it, politely, democratically, peacefully but demonstratively. Cornwall is leading the way in terms of sustainability and I am delighted to help recognise the achievements made.”

Chris Mann and James Foote , Bennamann

Bennamann were crowned overall winner. The overall winner is chosen from the winners of all the categories. The judges felt Bennamann stood out as the unique process they have developed can be scaled up and rolled out across Cornwall and beyond.

This innovative energy company seeks to develop circular supply chains in biomethane, as a carbon-neutral process. They have spearheaded some key technology for producing, storing and using bottled biomethane for vehicular use and they are trailing the production of an alternative green fuel made from manure slurry. This pilot scheme is believed to be the first of its type in the world.

Chris Mann, Chief Executive of Bennamann, said: “The Bennamann team are so excited and proud to receive this prestigious award. The support from Cornwall Council, LEP Cormac, Tevi and the European Regional Development Fund has been so important in getting us to this point in time. Next year is going to be momentous for us. What a great way to end 2020! Thank you!”

The winners in the categories were as follows:

The judges also awarded a special award for ‘continued commitment to sustainability’ to Ward Williams Associates.

All results can be found on the new CSA website which was launched at the award ceremony. The website has been sustainably created and is carbon neutrally hosted by LEAP, a certified B Corp. As well as being hosted on 100% renewable energy powered carbon neutral servers, it has been developed in line with the sustainable web manifesto which Leap helped write for the global web design community. Each page has a carbon counter to show its Co2 impact and each page has been designed to ensure the website uses under 0.9g of CO2 per page view minimum. The site will help showcase how important sustainability in the digital world is because if the Internet was a country, it would be the 7th largest polluter.

The Cornwall Sustainability Awards are sponsored by Tevi (Cornish for ‘grow’) which is a unique and exciting EU-funded venture to create both economic and environmental growth in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Tevi is a partnership between The University of Exeter, Cornwall Council, Cornwall Development Company and Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

Tevi Project Manager Dr Dan Bloomfield said: “Tevi are very pleased to host CSA this year as sponsor and delighted to see such a wide variety of nominations and range of companies from across Cornwall. It just shows you what an amazing impact small businesses are having to help make the economy of Cornwall more circular and help the environment grow. It’s fantastic to see so much innovation and business adaptation, particularly during the challenging times we are in.”

Cllr Julian German, Leader of Cornwall Council, gave a joint speech with Kate Kennally, Chief Executive of Cornwall Council.

Julian said: “For the last 18 years this event has been an encouraging reminder of the shared ambition between public and private sectors; aligned on a shared mission to forge a sustainable future for Cornwall. There’s much to be proud about what has been collectively achieved; but I think we all know that there remains much to be done to face up to the scale of the environmental challenge over the coming decade. At Cornwall Council we are committed to tackling the climate and ecological emergencies head on.”

Kate said: “This year has been harder than any of us could have imagined and a warning of how disruptive nature can be. But the nominees here today have shown once again just how innovative Cornish businesses can be by stepping up and taking on the challenge. Although the environmental challenge ahead is formidable, we are confident that local leadership – combined with the action and innovation shown by today’s nominees – can inspire, transform and set the foundations to set us on a path that reduces our impact on the planet’s natural systems.”

CSA Results 2020

Green Innovation in a time of coronavirus
Winner: Beach Guardian CIC
Runner Up: The Hive
Highly Commended: Fal Food Box Co Ltd

Circular Economy
Winner: Bennamann
Runner Up: Odyssey Innovation Ltd
Highly Commended: Oltco Ltd

Carbon Neutral
Winner: Cornish Lithium
Runner Up: Arc Marine Ltd
Highly Commended: Tugdock Ltd

Environmental Growth
Winner: Woodland Valley Farm
Runner Up: Beach Guardian CIC
Highly Commended: Mevagissey Garages Ltd

Special award for continued commitment to sustainability
Ward Williams Associates

Overall Winner
Overall Winner 2020: Bennamann

 

Full list of nominees 2020 list (in alphabetical order):
Admaps
Arc Marine Ltd
Arco2 Architecture
Beach Guardian CIC
Bennamann
BF Adventure
Boost Innovations Ltd
Cabilla Coaching Ltd
Chocolarder
Cornish Lithium
Cornwall Uncovered
Ekopod
Fal Food Box Co Ltd
Fishy Filaments
Fourth Element Ltd
Fowey Harbour Commissioners
Happy Habitats
Incredible Bulk Ltd
Jeremy Hastings Ltd
Kestle Barton
Kudhva
Leap Associates
Mevagissey Garages Ltd
Nancarrow
NSN Electrical
NUDE Canteen
Odyssey Innovation Ltd
Oltco Ltd
Packshare
PK Porthcurno
Plastic Oceanic
Readymoney Beach Shop
Sustain Cornwall Ltd
The Cornish Spirits Drink Company
The Grow Box
The Hive
The Refill Machine Company
Tugdock Ltd
Wadebridge Renewable Energy Network (WREN)
Ward Williams Associates
Woodland Valley Farm
Yallah Coffee Ltd

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