Carlyle Cardinal Ireland Invests in The City Bin Co.

Dublin, Ireland – Carlyle Cardinal Ireland (CCI), the private equity fund established by The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) and Cardinal Capital Group, has agreed to make an investment in The City Bin Co., an award-winning waste management company. The investment, terms of which are not being disclosed, is expected to be completed in the coming months.

The City Bin Co. was co-founded by Gene Browne in 1997 to bring a customer-centric approach to the waste management industry. Today the company is a leading provider of waste management services in both Dublin and Galway City, serving in excess of 80,000 household and commercial customers. Unlike traditional waste operators, The City Bin Co. solely focuses on source segregated waste collection from residential households and commercial businesses. The company’s core strategic focus is customer service and The City Bin Co.’s investment in people and its reputation for service excellence are renowned. The relentless pursuit of customer service excellence has delivered industry-leading customer retention rates and exceptional customer satisfaction as measured by Net Promoter Score (NPS). Approximately 150 people are employed by the company across its operations.

Gene Browne will remain as CEO of the company and the existing management team, including Niall Killilea, Managing Director, and Louise Niemann, Chief Financial Officer, will continue to lead the company. Ian Daly, Director, Cardinal Capital Group, Esmond Greene, Director, The Carlyle Group, and Jonathan Cosgrave, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group will join the board of directors of The City Bin Co. upon completion of the investment.

Gene Browne, the CEO, The City Bin Co., said: “The City Bin Co. has grown consistently in a very competitive market through our customer-focused business model. This approach has served us very well and truly differentiated the company. We’re delighted to partner with a fund of the pedigree, experience, and resources of CCI as we prepare for our next stage of growth. Our focus will remain on setting the standard for customer service across the waste management industry and delivering exceptional value for money to our business and household clients”.

Esmond Greene, Director, The Carlyle Group, said: “The City Bin Co. investment is CCI’s eleventh in the Irish market and we are delighted to partner with a business which has an unrivaled reputation for customer service, strong brand recognition and an experienced management team that has overseen a doubling in size of the business over the past 5 years. The fragmented waste management services market provides a significant opportunity to service growing household and business demand for professional waste management services through continued investment and via acquisitions, and we look forward to supporting the company’s continued expansion and to growing the 80,000+ customer base”.

Ian Daly, the Director, Cardinal Capital Group, said: “Managing waste is a critical part of any household or commercial customer’s budget and The City Bin Co.’s service and technology proposition enables it to employ the most effective and sustainable methods in processing more than 100,000 tonnes of black, green and brown waste every year. The Irish waste market is continually evolving and CCI’s focus is always to grow the companies it invests in. We and management have a collective ambition to double the size of the business over the next 5 – 6 years through a combination of organic and acquisitive growth.”

CCI has been an active growth investor in Ireland since 2014. The City Bin Co. is the fund’s eleventh investment and CCI continues to explore other investment opportunities across the Irish market. Current CCI investments include The AA Ireland, Sports Surgery Clinic, Carroll Cuisine, Learning Pool and McCauley Pharmacy Group. CCI previously invested in Lily O’Brien’s and General Secure Logistics Services (GSLS). During April 2019, CCI announced the sale of Payzone to a joint venture company established by AIB plc and First Data Corporation.

CCI’s investment in The City Bin Co. is subject to approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).

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 organization keen to place a greater emphasis on 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-liter 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.”

‘Skip Ahoy’ at Salthill Raft Race 2018

Well done to our team at the first Salthill Raft Race in aid of RNLI. ‘Skip Ahoy’ did us proud!

Eimhin Killilea & Sean Deveney were in charge of the build (which kept the sea out perfectly!) and Eimhin was joined by Louise Niemann, David O’Hanlon & Ray McDonnell as crew.

Despite being pipped for third place, ‘Skip Ahoy’ performed well for its first outing. Here’s to next year’s race!

365 Unpacked

Born in Lille in 1979, Antoine Repessé is a self-taught photographer. While working initially in public institutions, in 2012 he started freelancing. He joins the photo agency Lightmotiv where he produces for major press agencies including Le Monde, Elle, Marianne, L’Express, Géo, Causette. At the end of 2015 he leaves the agency to join the collective Views Co.

He embarked on personal projects around photojournalism inspired from socio-political issues. His travels from Lille to Romania, resulting in the production of “Bienvenue chez les Roms”, to India, and Mali with the NGO Acauped take him to further horizons.

His latest project, “365 Unpacked” is the result of all of the above. The questioning of a major society issue: the production of waste on a daily basis.

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.