Lismore City Council, Moonee Valley City Council, the City of Stirling and Lockhart Shire Council were praised for their mobile phone recycling efforts at the MobileMuster Local Government Awards, which were presented at the 2008 Constitutional Summit of Local Government, in Melbourne.

The 2008 MobileMuster Local Government Awards, now in its second year, was created by the mobile phone industry's official recycling program, to recognise and reward leading councils across Australia, which have implemented effective recycling campaigns; helped increase awareness of mobile phone recycling and encouraged residents to hand in their old mobile phones, batteries, accessories and chargers.

Guest speaker Scott Bennett presented the 'Top Collector Overall' award to Moonee Valley City Council, while the City of Stirling was awarded the 'Best Promoter', Lockhart Shire Council won 'Top Collector Per Capita' and Lismore City Council was awarded the leading award of the day - The National Excellence Award.

Moonee Valley City Council in Victoria was awarded 'Top Overall Collector' (by weight) for collecting 202kgs of mobile phones, batteries, chargers and accessories in the last 12 months. The majority of these mobiles were collected by Moonee Valley's innovative Re-new program, which collects a range of reusable and recyclable materials through an extension of their existing kerbside collection service.

Lockhart Shire Council in NSW was named the 'Top Collector Per Capita Award', for collecting 8.6kgs of mobile phone handsets, batteries and accessories per 1000 residents. This is the highest collection rate per 1000 residents across Australia.

The Top Collector Per Capita Award is a new category introduced this year to recognise the achievements of many of the smaller councils which have heavily encouraged residents to recycle such as Lockhart Shire Council.

The City of Stirling was awarded 'Best Promoter' for encouraging mobile phone recycling through various creative channels, including local print media; householder's guide to recycling; a welcome pack for schools; and incorporating MobileMuster information at community displays and presentations including shopping centres.

Lismore City Council took home the 'National Excellence Award' for its efforts in making mobile phone recycling easier and more convenient for residents by setting up a number of drop off points, including the Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre, by actively promoting mobile phone recycling through the media and at community events like the Lismore Show. Also, incorporating mobile phone recycling messages in the 'Waste Wise Ways' Resource Kit for schools, as well as collecting 95kg in the past 12 months.

There are 270 local councils registered across Australia, which has seen public collection points nationwide grow to more than 3,500, of which more than 700 are hosted by local councils in their receptions, resource recovery centres, libraries and community centres, making mobile phone recycling convenient and accessible for everyone. Alternatively if people can't get to one of the collection points, they can pick up a free recycling satchel at participating Australia Post outlets, or download a free reply paid label from www.mobilemuster.com.au

For further information about the MobileMuster Local Government Awards, or to join the program, visit www.mobilemuster.com.au or contact 1300 730 070.

The Mobile Carriers Forum (MCF) also disseminated information at the ALGA Conference to assist in the local government sector’s understanding of how it could contribute to decisions about where mobile telecommunications network base stations are deployed. “The carriers are continually seeking ways to further improve their community consultation practices by working with local Councils to identify community sensitive areas and by targeting consultation with key stakeholders. Our discussions with Councillors at the ALGA Conference greatly assisted with this,” said MCF Program Manager Matt Evans.