AgVet Projects Pty Ltd, based in Warragul, has been named the winner of the Product Innovations Category in the national 2011 savewater! awards® and has taken out the Overall Award for Excellence for their first of its kind Green Cleaning™ system.
The Overall Award for Excellence Award recognises the organisation or individual that has made the greatest contribution to sustainability from all of the eight savewater! awards® categories and was presented at the Gala Ceremony held in Melbourne.
The new system is the result of a three year research, development and commercialisation project which started in August 2008. The project was managed by AgVet Projects on behalf of GippsDairy and was supported by the Victorian Government’s Sustainability Fund and the Gardiner Foundation. It included seven of the major dairy equipment and dairy chemical suppliers as Industry Partners.
Winning the Awards was unexpected as the Green Cleaning™ system is primarily designed to save energy rather than water. “We didn’t think we had a chance, especially as we were up against some very large corporations. However the judges obviously thought the holistic savings of energy, water and chemicals, as well as the collaborative nature of the project team, were enough to set us apart”, said Rob Greenall, Managing Director of AgVet Projects. “Winning such a prestigious national award is great for the dairy industry. It will also provide plenty of motivation for equipment resellers to get out there and introduce Green Cleaning™ systems to their dairy farmer clients. Now is the time for every dairy farmer to seriously consider the potential savings for their own business”, he said.
Rob Gell, environmental consultant and head judge referred to Green Cleaning™ as “A true innovation, the first of its kind. The collaboration of government, industry and the commercial sector is commendable and it is pleasing to see the potential worldwide application of the product.”
The new technology has now been commercialised by a number of dairy equipment and chemical suppliers. Even a modest uptake of the Green Cleaning™ system, by between 5 and 10% of dairy farms over the next 10 years, will save the Victorian dairy industry between $17m and $65m in today’s dollars.
No comments:
Post a Comment