The award recognises a town-wide effort to give everything from drink containers and furniture to books, clothing and food a second life.
Driven by staff, volunteers and local residents, the initiative encourages everyone to repair, repurpose, or pass items on before throwing them away.
KCLC chief executive Jennifer Savage said the award recognised something much broader than recycling.
“Reuse and renewal is really about changing the question we ask,” she said.
“Instead of asking, ‘how do we get rid of this?’ we ask, ‘does someone else need it? Can we repair it? Can we reuse it? Can we turn it into something different that someone needs?’ That thinking has become part of what we do across KCLC.”
One of KCLC’s largest initiatives is its Container Deposit Scheme operation, which has processed more than 4.3 million containers since opening in November 2023.
As part of the program, KCLC collects items that are difficult to recycle through normal household bins, including asthma inhalers, medication blister packs and textiles.
Craft groups turn unwanted fabrics into Boomerang Bags and the centre’s book swap gives old stories a new audience, with donated clothing and food going to local families experiencing hardship.
Donated furniture and timber is also repaired or transformed through the Men’s Shed program.
“None of those things individually sounds enormous, but when a whole community starts doing them, the impact adds up,” Ms Savage said.
The program opens doors for volunteering, learning, connection and employment pathways, while demonstrating how recycling and reusing can make a big impact on community development.
“This award belongs to our community,” Ms Savage said.
“It belongs to every person who has brought their containers in, donated something that another person could use, volunteered their time, repaired something, made something new or helped us find a better way of doing things.”
“We are incredibly proud to see Kyabram recognised.”
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