2023 ALPAR award winners

9.25.2023 – ALPAR’s annual awards recognize companies, organizations or individuals that have made significant impact in litter prevention and recycling. They are intended to celebrate their achievements and commitment as well as provide inspiration for others. This year’s awards were held Sept. 21st at the Alaska Aviation Museum.

ALPAR awards are divided into two categories. First, the Community Awards, and second, the Board of Directors Awards. The purpose of the Community Awards is to build community support and capacity in our existing service areas and programs, allowing us to look outside our board and organizational supporters for grass roots success and leaders. The Board of Directors Awards creates awareness of corporate philanthropic endeavors and celebrates visionary leaders, allowing us to look within the companies which serve on the ALPAR board or support the organization.

Thanks to Weaver Brothers, each community award winner will be provided $500 to dedicate to either their nonprofit or an organization involved in litter prevention or recycling. Those unable to attend in person will be mailed their awards (and checks if applicable).

Outstanding Education or Outreach: HoWL

HoWL is based in Homer and aims to provide positive role-modeling and stewardship in youth by facilitating cleanup experiences that are fun and encourage feelings of accomplishments. Each spring HoWL teaches youth the value of community stewardship by hosting a week-long cleanup event.

Groups of youth and volunteers meet after school, pick up litter in a different area of town each day and at the end of the week, celebrate their hard work with food and prizes. During cleanups, youth see the reality of how trash is impacting their community and the difference their efforts can have.

This summer, 60 youth participated; and since 2011, about 900 youth have gone through the program. Over the years, they have collected more than 1,700 bags of litter with the goal to raise community awareness about the impact of litter.

Congratulations HoWL in winning this year’s Outstanding Education or Outreach Award!

New or Enhanced Recycling Program: PKS Consulting and their mobile plastic waste recycler

Patrick Simpson accepts the ALPAR award for New or Enhanced Recycling Program based on his mobile plastic waste recycler. He is flanked by Dale Westerlin (TOTE) on the left, and Kurt Froening (Alaska Waste) on the right.

PKS Consulting, operated by Patrick Simpson, is an entrepreneurial endeavor to find innovative solutions to assess, collect and utilize plastic waste. Through his creative thinking, Patrick has developed a mobile unit capable of moving to various locations on land and coastal communities. The mobile unit fits in a shipping container and converts plastic waste into recycled lumber, known as Grizzly Wood. This product can be used locally for boardwalks, railings, fencing, retaining walls, picnic tables and benches. The mobile unit takes plastic ocean waste, post-industrial resin and post-consumer resin and generates a locally usable product, thereby conserving valuable landfill space while increasing local recycling.

To date, Patrick has pilot demonstrations set in Homer, Kenai, Seward, Cordova, Whittier, Palmer and Anchorage. He has taken plastics unloaded from cruise ships in Seward, thread protectors from mining and drilling companies, as well as marine debris from coastal cleanup crews. We can’t wait to see what you do next Patrick!

Congratulations to Patrick!

Litter Prevention Award: Kongiganak Traditional Council (KTC)

Each year the KTC Environmental Department ensures the community is involved in its litter prevention and recycling through the ALPAR community cleanup events each summer. They also focus on engaging youth and working with the Association of Village Council Presidents to collect and ship out e-waste from the village.

On average, the KTC Environmental Department Program recycles and ships out thousands of pounds of recyclables annually. For example, this year alone, 118 pounds of aluminum cans, 76 pounds of fluorescent lights, 61 pounds of alkaline batteries and more than a ton of e-waste was shipped out of the village.

Thanks to KTC, the community is active and strong in recycling waste every summer. Their work encourages waste and recycling awareness, while enlisting the next generation in a greener future for rural Alaska.

Congratulations KTC !!

Volunteerism or Service Award: Dive Alaska

J.D. Stimson of Dive Alaska accepts the ALPAR award for Volunteerism or Service. He is flanked by Dale Westerlin (TOTE) on the left, and Kurt Froening (Alaska Waste) on the right.

When people think of litter, they envision what’s along the roadside, pathways or in greenbelts. Litter, however, is sometimes below the surface, or in this case, below the water line. For several years, Dive Alaska employees, friends, family and diving enthusiasts have been plying the waters of Alaska’s lakes and harbors to remove trash.

Cleanup areas have included the Seward Harbor, Sand Lake and Smitty’s Cove in Whittier. Clean ups generally involve 30 or more volunteers in just about any kind of weather, from frigid saltwater dives in February, to routine dives in Sand Lake during the warmer summer months.

Thanks to the help of ALPAR in supplying bags for the cleanup, as much as 800 pounds of litter has been cleaned up by volunteers in one day. The effort requires coordination with port officials, the Coast Guard, the boating community and others to ensure volunteers underwater can operate and document what is being collected in a safe manner.

Congratulations to Dive Alaska!

Supporter of the Year: Northern Star Resources (NSR)

After the departure of BP from Alaska, ALPAR was left without a long-term committed partner to fund its annual bag distribution program. In 2020 and in what was the first full year of the pandemic, ALPAR dipped into savings and cut bag production in half.

After discussions with the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, Northern Star Resources, which serves on their board, stepped up not only as a new ALPAR supporter, but as a multi-year sponsor (agreeing to provide up to $53,000 per year in 2022, 2023 & 2024). Northern Star Resources also worked with ALPAR to ensure recycled content was used in the bag production process.

Thanks to Northern Star Resource’s support, ALPAR was able to bring its bag distribution program back up to full speed by sending out nearly 200,000 bags to 400 entities across Alaska. From Utqia?vik to Metlakatla, yellow ALPAR bags are used for cleanups along roadsides, bike paths, board walks and green belts. ALPAR’s green bags are used for recycling aluminum cans and plastic beverage bottles (under the Flying Cans/Flying Bottles program) in rural Alaska.

Northern Star Resources three-year commitment has provided ALPAR with consistent branding and bolstered its mission to “keep Alaska beautiful.”

Congratulations Northern Star Resources!!

Joe Gulley Award: Gary Smith (posthumously)

Mel Smith accepts the ALPAR award on behalf of her late husband, Gary Smith, who passed away in May. Mel is flanked by Dale Westerlin (TOTE), Danny Fruean (Total Reclaim Anchorage Branch Manager), and Kurt Froening (Alaska Waste).

Gary was an ever-present figure in the recycling world, taking time to present at numerous workshops to help spread the word about how to safely remove materials from roadsides, landfills and water sources. He willingly participated in panel discussions and trainings for rural environmental conferences and offered his assistance to the community in his off hours.

Gary was also the embodiment of a someone who put their professional and personal efforts toward the good of others and his community; recycling, and the residents of Alaska, were the benefactors of his dedication and selflessness.

Here are words from his co-workers at Total Reclaim, quote:

“We could not have asked for a more driven and dedicated person to lead our Alaska branch. Gary was a veteran and a foster parent who always put others ahead of himself. His passion for recycling and his commitment to his family and the community in Anchorage helped drive the company’s success in Alaska and was an inspiration to us all. Gary took pride in designing creative ways to give back to the community and was always the first in line to help anyone in need. He was the definition of selflessness and set an example for our team on a daily basis.”

Thank you 2023 ALPAR Awards sponsors:

Gold Sponsor:

Silver Sponsor:

Super Supporters: