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.”
The Zero Waste Dream
Across the UK last week, homes and businesses took part in Zero Waste Week. The project is a grassroots campaign, raising awareness of the environmental impact of waste and empowering participants to reduce waste.
The idea is for millions of people around the world to reduce waste through reuse, recycling and repurposing material for a longer life.
But, in truth, the solutions to waste are very complex. They involve global industry, trade and profit. Indeed, the very basis of today’s economy requires fundamental change to combat waste.
What is Zero Waste, and what can be done to achieve it?
Zero Waste is in its aspirational sense a very simple goal; to reduce the amount of materials we use that aren’t recycled or composted to zero.
But of course, as soon as you examine the details, things become more complex. If an old plastic bottle is burned to make energy (called incineration), not recycled, does that still count as Zero Waste?
Or, if a plastic bottle that was manufactured very efficiently, using very little CO2 or energy isn’t recycled, is that worse for the planet than recycling one which used lots of energy in inefficient production? Remember, recycling itself takes energy, and has CO2 impacts too.
For these reasons, the simplicities of much Zero Waste campaigning, and those powerful calls to action don’t really stack up in the real world. Most of us want goods, like flatscreen TVs, whose components we can’t recycle.
Even more fundamentally, we all need hospitals, but the syringes must be individually packaged in sterile, expensive, hard to recycle packaging for health reasons. Who among us would consent to a reused syringe?
So the truth is, Zero Waste is a useful goal, but it can’t become reality for many years yet, if ever. What can be done is to consider the best ways for society and industry to improve sustainability. And that’s where the circular economy comes in.
What is the circular economy?
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is leading the race to a circular economy. In the Foundation’s words, a circular economy is one that is restorative and regenerative by design, and which aims to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and value at all times.
The circular economy is about designing things right to begin with, at global and industrial level, so that recycling is easy if or when products finish their useful life. When we get this right, Zero Waste has a shot at success.
With a circular economic model, the flatscreen TV we previously couldn’t recycle would be designed differently, so it could be easily and profitably recycled, or reused.
The circular economy is vital, because individuals like you or I can’t really change how a flatscreen TV is made. This is up to manufacturers. Globally, these need to be shown the potential and the possibilities of more circular industries.
Then, you and I just need to drop our TVs off to the Council for recycling, when hopefully, in the future, they are designed better for this purpose.
All of this is complicated. But essentially, for Zero Waste to work, the circular economy needs to become a reality. Then, big manufacturers could sell us products we would willingly recycle.
It all goes to prove that the biggest aspirational, environmental challenges, require buy in from industry, not just activists on the street. As ever, a combination of forces conspire for the greater good.
Originally published by www.contentcoms.co.uk
Apple’s Environmental Progress in China
First, it announced that Lens Technology, which produces glass for Apple, has committed to using 100% renewable energy for all of its Apple operations by the end of 2018. Lens, which is the first Apple supplier to commit to using fully-renewable energy sources, has entered into agreements with local wind energy suppliers to fulfil its commitment.
Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, said:
We want to show the world that you can manufacture responsibly and we’re working alongside our suppliers to help them lower their environmental impact in China. We congratulate Lens for their bold step, and hope by sharing the lessons we’ve learned in our transition to renewable energy, our suppliers will continue to access clean power projects, moving China closer to its green manufacturing goals.
Second, Apple announced that all of its fourteen final assembly sites in China comply with UL’s Zero Waste to Landfill standard, which “certifies all of their manufacturing waste is reused, recycled, composted, or, when necessary, converted into energy.” Foxconn met the Zero Waste to Landfill standard earlier this year at two of its assembly sites. Twelve other sites were added more recently.