The City Bin Co. – New Sustainability Partner to Connacht Rugby

Connacht Rugby and The City Bin Co. are delighted to announce a three-year official partnership which will see The City Bin Co. take on the role of Sustainability Partner to Connacht Rugby.

The City Bin Co. has over two decades of experience in waste management and innovation, and now brings this knowledge to an organisation keen to place a greater emphasis in sustainability both on and off the field.

Announcing the new partnership, Head of Commercial and Marketing at Connacht Rugby Brian Mahony said: “This partnership is much more than a traditional partnership. We are committed to reducing the amount of single use plastics and waste going into landfills and The City Bin Co.’s expertise in the field of sustainability is central to making this happen. Both Connacht Rugby and The City Bin Co. have their roots in the province and we see this as a natural partnership, to provide ongoing guidance and education not only to the team and supporters, but also to the next generation of green ambassadors.”

Commenting on the exciting new partnership, Gene Browne, CEO, The City Bin Co. added: “We are excited to come on board with Connacht Rugby as Sustainability Partner for the next three years. Connacht Rugby has a long tradition and presence in local communities with a very devoted and growing fan base, but are also very aware of the legacy they want to create for the future, which is what makes the partnership such an excellent fit for us. Through various initiatives and activations, we will bring awareness in a way that is directly aligned with Connacht Rugby’s community driven purpose.

We look forward to supporting the continued success of Connacht Rugby in the seasons ahead.”

Your old plastic bottle … reborn as a towel, bag or swimsuit

First it was “bags for life”, chunky doormats and, more recently, clothing such as fleeces, swimwear and pack-away macs. Now towels made from recycled plastic bottles are to go on sale in the UK for the first time in August – the latest initiative in the war against single-use plastics and the result of a technological breakthrough that has produced a fabric deemed soft and fluffy enough to use on human skin.

The new range of eco-friendly bath towels will go on sale online and at 18 branches of John Lewis in the last week of August, after nearly two years of extensive testing and work with suppliers. The polyester from the recycled plastic bottles accounts for 35% of their content, while the rest is regenerated cotton.

The bath towel is made from about 10 one-litre plastic bottles, and John Lewis says that the use of recycled rather than virgin cotton will save about five tonnes of fabric from going to landfill each year.

“It took 18 months to develop these towels with our supplier,” said Zoe Brady, John Lewis’s towel buyer. “Initially, it was hard to create the soft, luxurious feeling we wanted from recycled materials but we got there in the end. The recycled polyester makes these towels quick drying, and the cotton means they’re highly absorbent, too.”

The City Bin Co. named EBA National Champions

The City Bin Co. has been named a National Champion for Ireland in The European Business Awards, sponsored by RSM; Europe’s largest business competition set up to celebrate business excellence and best practice in the European business community.

The Awards, now in its 10th year, is supported by business leaders, academics and political representatives from across Europe, and this year engaged with over 33,000 businesses from 34 countries. The City Bin Co. has been chosen after the first phase of judging by an independent panel. They were evaluated on the core EBA values of innovation, ethics and success and will now go through to the second stage of the competition, which includes a video and a public vote.

Gene Browne, CEO of The City Bin Co. on hearing the news, said “We’re very proud to be once again selected to represent Ireland as a National Champion. The European Business Awards is widely recognised as the showcase for Europe’s most dynamic companies and we are proud to be recognised at this level.”

Adrian Tripp, CEO of the European Business Awards said: “Congratulations to The City Bin Co. who have been selected to represent their country as National Champions. They are central to the success of Europe’s strong business community, and have shown the core principles we look for of innovation, ethics and success.”

The next round requires the National Champions to make a presentation video, telling their unique story and explaining their business success. The Awards’ independent judges will award the best of this group the ‘Ruban d’Honneur’ status and the selected companies will then go on to the Gala Final in 2017.

Separately, in a two stage public vote, the videos will be hosted on the European Business Awards website, and the company who receives the most votes in their country will become the ‘National Public Champion’. Last year over 227,000 votes were cast as companies were supported globally by their clients, staff and peers, as well as the general public. Lead sponsor RSM, the sixth largest network of independent audit, tax and consulting firms worldwide has supported the European Business Awards since its inception.

The Awards’ core purpose is to support the development of a stronger and more successful business community throughout Europe. Additional sponsors and partners of the Awards include UK Trade and Investment, ELITE and PR Newswire. In the 2015/16 competition, all EU member markets were represented plus Turkey, Norway, Switzerland, Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Their combined revenue exceeded €1.2 trillion employing over 2.5 million people.

For further information about the winners, visit European Business Awards and RSM.