This year, Valpak have joined with the Royal College of Art to encourage the innovative design of eco-efficient products and services, and their communication to industry and the public. Valpak are sponsoring two awards, open exclusively to students at the College:

Award 1: 'Spread the Word'
Will recognise a communication design that inspires change in consumer behaviour by delivering a strong and cohesive message about carbon reduction or recycling.

Award 2: 'Shrinking Footprints'
To encourage the design of products and services which help to reduce the impact of society's dependence on carbon or packaging.

Valpak members are invited to attend a reception evening at the College to help judge the initial entries in each category.

The evening will begin with a champagne reception at 7pm on Thursday 5 June 2008, after which guests are free to enjoy the exhibits. The students will be on hand to discuss their entries and ideas in more detail. You will be asked to complete a ballot card indicating your favourite piece in each category, and these results will be used to select the six designs submitted to the final judging panel. Buffet-style food and refreshments will be served throughout.

The evening is a great opportunity to hear a fresh take on our industry from students at the cutting-edge of their fields. It also provides a relaxed way of catching up with colleagues from throughout the sector.

If you are a Valpak member and wish to attend this unique event please book your place here »

The WEEE Regulations came into force in 2007 and require Valpak to contract with Local Authorities across the UK to collect discarded electric and electronic items. Valpak have now put in place contracts with 35 Local Authorities. As part of our work we are seeking to promote and make consumers aware of recycling facilities for electrical items such as old TVs, fridges and cookers, and Valpak's Marketing Team have been working with Local Authority officers to prepare relevant marketing materials.

This work will launch in Glasgow where we will be using a leafleting campaign, schools poster competition, "WEEE recycle-more", and face to face promotion to raise house holders' attention to new WEEE recycling services. Some of the promotional materials are generic and can be used with other Local Authority partners and transferred to other areas of the UK if the Glasgow launch proves to be successful. Valpak have received financial support for the Glasgow WEEE campaign from Wincanton who are one of the contractors in the Glasgow area.

For more information about the Glasgow WEEE campaign and the "WEEE recycle-more" schools poster competition please contact a member of the Marketing Team on 08450 682 572.