The Golden Guitar winner has been the face of Don’t Waste Tamworth and now Tune In To Recycling for 13 years, an initiative to get people to recycle more during the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

The reason the country artist was chosen to lead the campaign is because of his passion for the city.

“I got given a beautiful Leatherman knife when I celebrated 10 years with Don’t Waste Tamworth and now when I look at it when I’m fishing, I remember my time living in Tamworth,” Cassar-Daley said.

“It’s special to me and it’s a nice reminder of what Tamworth is to me – it’s not just country music and Golden Guitars, it’s deeper than that.”

Cassar-Daley said Tamworth had always been a beautiful town and was even beautiful in drought.

“I have a lot of good memories here,” he said.

“I want to give back something, because it’s given so much to me, like learning how to songwrite, so this program is one way I can give back. What Tamworth has done with recycling is special and there are a lot of other towns trying to mirror what Tamworth is doing.”

Over the past 12 years of the program, moving into the 13th year, 98 tonnes of recyclable materials have been recovered from Peel St and the Riverside Campgrounds during the festival.

The program was launched at Hillvue Public School yesterday, where Cassar-Daley sang with the students and spoke to them about recycling.

Cassar-Daley will return to Tamworth for the country music festival. He is a finalist for three Golden Guitars and releases his new album in March.