Members of Sheffield Friends of the Earth, Green Party and Greenpeace protested on Wednesday 1st December at the Sheffield Business Awards held at Ponds Forge. The protest was not against the awards but the acceptance of Onyx as sponsors of the Environmental award. Sponsors should be role models and none of the groups involved believe that Onyx qualify based on their track record in managing waste in the Sheffield.
Maureen Edwards, commented, “A company whose major treatment of waste is incineration cannot call itself ‘environmentally friendly’. Environmentally friendly waste collection organisations are making weekly doorstep collections of multi-material separated waste, thereby encouraging everyone to recycle rather than dispose of their waste. Onyx is actively polluting the city centre by burning unseparated waste and plans to import more unseparated waste from surrounding areas to fuel the incinerator. This will cause further pollution of our city even if our recycling rate rises. A company like Onyx should not be sponsoring the Sheffield Environment Awards.”