Newton Waterproofing are thrilled to have won the Charles Darwin Award at The British and Irish Trading Alliance (BITA) awards in recognition of their unique membrane recycling service. This prestigious award makes the fifth accolade won by the scheme in just two years.

The Charles Darwin Award is for companies that have successfully introduced a new product, service or process in response to a changing landscape and Newton are honoured to have won the award over some tough competition.

The scheme has won a whole host of awards already, including the KEiBA Commitment to the Environment Award; the prestigious Innovation of the Year award from the National Building Awards; the Sustainability award at The Property Care Association Best Practice Awards; and the Kent Environment Champions Award as part of the Kent Environment Strategy.

It was also shortlisted at the Plastic Industry Awards in the Best Environmental or Energy Efficiency Programme of the Year category, alongside huge global companies such as Coca Cola.

As the first and only service of its kind in the waterproofing industry, the membrane recycling scheme is designed to reduce the amount of waste plastic sent to landfill from waterproofing projects. Off-cuts of membrane used on site by Specialist Contractors are collected by Newton, chipped into small granules, and then collected by a national recycler for reprocessing and reusing in the manufacture of new products for the construction industry.

Since the scheme's launch in 2017, Newton have successfully prevented 12.87 tonnes of plastic from going to landfill and 14.788 tonnes of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere. This also saves enough energy to make over 2 million mugs of tea!

"Everyone at Newton Waterproofing is thrilled to have won the Charles Darwin Award in recognition of our innovative membrane recycling service. It's another one to add to trophy cabinet and we are proud to operate what is the only recycling service in the waterproofing industry.

The construction industry has a huge part to play in managing and reducing the amount of waste going to landfill each year and we're proud that our Membrane Recycling Service is allowing us to play our part in tackling the problem." - Warren Muschialli, Managing Director, Newton Waterproofing Systems.