ONYX ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP is celebrating after winning an award at the prestigious National Recycling Awards 2003.

The green waste recycling partnership Apex, has been recognised as the ‘Best Industry Recycling Initiative’ in the UK and were presented with the first prize trophy at the awards ceremony earlier this month.

Onyx has been producing the award winning peat-free soil conditioner, Pro-Grow, from grass cuttings, hedge clippings and other green garden waste from across Hampshire for the last six years.

In 2002, the company formed a partnership, Apex, with two other major waste management companies and specialist soil company Freeland Horticulture to expand the market for quality green waste compost.

Since its launch, Apex has delivered over 200,000 m³ of peat free organic compost to the retail and landscaping industries which the NRA’s judges viewed as ‘extraordinary’. They described the initiative as "very professional and quite impressive. It’s got scale and quality and they’ve penetrated a market."

The Apex product range includes compost sold through Wye Vale Garden Centres, B&Q and Homebase – it has also featured in high profile projects such as the Millennium Village in Greenwich, Bluewater Shopping Centre and the Eden Project.

Says Peter Mills who heads the Onyx Pro-Grow team in Hampshire, "This is a real coup for both the Onyx and Apex teams and we are absolutely delighted to have had this great initiative recognised. I would urge all Hampshire gardeners to keep taking their green waste to our Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) to help us keep gardens across the country blooming."

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