It was recognised with the Best Government Sponsored PR Campaign of the Year and the Best Corporate Social Responsibility PR Campaign of the Year at the Mumbrella CommsCon Awards in Sydney on 31 March.
Earlier in the year it was also awarded the NSW Program Innovation Award by the Australian Water Association, which puts it in contention for the National AWA Program Innovation Award which will be presented at Ozwater’17 on 17 May.
Sydney Water Senior Media and PR Advisor Peter Hadfield said “Since we started the program, our customer sentiment surveys have shown a 50 per cent reduction in people who think it’s ok to flush wipes.
“The campaign has also taken off internationally, with over 300 wastewater utilities and non-government organisations from 23 countries now supporting the movement to keep these products out of pipes,” he said.
“In December the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against two major wipes’ manufacturers, alleging that they each made false or misleading representation in relation to ‘flushable’ wipes they marketed and supplied in Australia
“The awards are a wonderful recognition of the hard work done by Sydney Water staff to bring this issue to wide public attention and to advocate for change in the packaging claims about these products.”
In 2016, the education program was awarded the Corporate Social Responsibility PR Campaign of the Year at the Asia-Pacific Communications Summit in Singapore.
For more information visit the Sydney Water website.
If you have news you would like covered in Trenchless Australasia contact Assistant Editor Nick Lovering at nlovering@gs-press.com.au