Binn Buzz Winter 21

BinnBuzz

COP26 UK Design Council Event | 4

Meet Our Heroes | 6

Star Awards | 8

WINTER | 2021

In this edition...

Binn Group Hosts COP26 UK Design Sustainability Event

Welcome fr 4

Binn Heroes Recognised During Road Safety Week

6

Celebrating Success at the Business Star Awards

8

Customer Focus: Abbeyford Leisure

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Welcome to the Team: Meet Our New Starts

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It’s been two years since the last edition of the Binn Buzz and in that time the world has changed in ways that no one expected.

We’ve continued to provide outstanding service to our customers during these challenging times, none of which would have been possible without the enduring and relentless effort of all our staff.

They’ve adapted to challenging situations to ensure we’ve been able to keep all of our services operational and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone for their hard work and dedication it has not gone unnoticed.

That’s one of the reasons we opened up the Road Safety Awards in November to include all our staff - not just those involved in transport. You can read all about what we got up to during Road Safety Week and meet some of our Binn Heroes later in this edition.

In other awards news, we were once again delighted to be the main sponsor of last month’s prestigious Business Star Awards hosted by the Perthshire Chamber of Commerce at Crieff Hydro. Binn’s own Brian Harkins presented three awards on the night - you can see him and the winners (as well as a few other familiar Binn faces!) on pages 8 and 9.

rom the Chief Executive Everyone will be aware that Glasgow hosted COP26 last month and we were excited to host our own satellite event with the UK Design Council in support of the conference. Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do and we were delighted to make our own contribution to this global event.

From global to local I’m pleased to feature one of our long standing customers on page 10 - Abbeyford Leisure is a family business who operate three fantastic holiday parks in one of the most picturesque parts of Scotland. We’ve been providing recycling and waste management services to them for over 10 years and it’ll come as no great surprise that this year has been one of their busiest seasons to date.

Allan MacGregor CEO Binn Group

Last but not least I can’t wait to introduce some of the new faces who’ve joined Binn Group over the last few months. They’ve all fitted in really well as part of the team and I’d like to take this opportunity to reiterate how impressed I’ve been with how hard all our staff have worked over the last few years to keep providing our customers with the high standard of service they expect from us.

On that note I’ll sign off by wishing all of our staff, customers, partners and friends a very happy Christmas and a prosperous 2022.

(L to R): Binn Group CEO Allan MacGregor; Design Council Partner Sophie Thomas; Design Council Chief Design Officer Cat Drew; and John MacGregor, Chairman of Binn Group

Binn Group Hosts COP26 UK D Sustainability Event BINN BUZZ | WINTER 2021

Design

Sophie Thomas delivering her workshop on reutilising end-of-life waste materials in the design process In November Binn Ecopark hosted a COP26-inspired sustainability workshop in partnership with Design Council, the UK government’s national advisor on design.

The event, attended by representatives from local business, community groups and a range of designers from across the UK, preceded the Council’s Design for Planet Festival held at V&A Dundee last month.

Leading the visit was Design Council partner and URGE Collective co-founder Sophie Thomas. Following a group tour of Binn Ecopark’s stateof-the-art recycling and resource management facilities, Ms Thomas led a workshop highlighting how end-of-life waste materials can be reutilised in design projects, promoting greater sustainability and closing the loop of circular processes.

Binn Group CEO Allan MacGregor said: “We’re delighted to host this event with the Design Council where we’ve welcomed both local businesses and representatives from across the UK to the Ecopark.

“As a business which is fully committed to reducing waste and growing the circular economy, we’re really pleased to work in partnership with the Design Council to promote

this agenda and explore new means of how we can further develop sustainability-focused innovation.”

Commenting on the visit, Design Council Chief Design Officer Cat Drew said: “It’s been amazing to witness the renewable energy production, waste reutilisation, and other sustainability-focused activities underway here at Perthshire’s Binn Ecopark.

This facility is world-class and a provides a great example of innovation within the UK’s circular economy. It also compliments the work we’re doing at the Design Council to promote more sustainable practices across the UK design sector.”

Design Council partner Sophie Thomas said: “It’s essential that we reutilise more waste materials within design. With an estimated 80% of the environmental impact of a product getting locked in at the concept design stage, we must put a greater focus on sustainability at the early stages. The use of raw materials used in design account for around 45% of the greenhouse gases we need to eliminate, but preventing waste or retaining material value is rarely in a brief. Working alongside waste management partners like Binn Group to repurpose end-of-waste materials will help ensure we start to design back better.”

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Trade Waste Supervisor Duncan Dow (L) and Trade Waste Driver Martin Brown (R) trying out the vehicle defect challenge with Health & Safety Advisor Claire Martin

Binn Heroes Recognised Durin Road Safety Week This year’s Road Safety Week - the UK’s biggest road safety event - took place from 15th to 21st November. Throughout the week Binn Group shared a series of online facts and ran quizzes, with a special day-long event held on Wednesday 17th November for drivers and all other staff.

As an extension to this year’s theme of Road Safety Heroes, the event was opened out to all staff to include Operational, Back Office and Transport heroes.

Activities took place at both the Binn Ecopark and Shore Road Recycling Centre and included interactive displays providing information about essentials for winter driving, mental health and wellbeing, and road safety. There were also a series BINN BUZZ | WINTER 2021

of competitions, including an eyesight chart test and a challenge to identify 10 defects on a skip motor. A refresher safety training session was also provided.

Three Outstanding Achievement Awards were presented on the day to staff who had been singled out by their managers for specific recognition. The Operational Hero was named as Stuart Connacher, who was presented his Hero Award by Kris Grieg, his Line Manager. Kris said “All the operations team have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic, from security guards to picking line staff. However, Stuart in particular has really stepped up, not only literally in his promotion to Production Supervisor, but also in the way he has supported me and the company by giving it all throughout the pandemic.

We all know how hard it has been, yet the team

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(L-R): Production & Safety Manager Kris Greig with Operational Hero Stuart Connacher

Cleanest Cab Winner Brian Murray

And the winners are...

Operational Hero - Stuart Connacher Back Office Hero - Brenda Bruce Transport Hero - Aaron Byrne Cleanest Cab - Brian Murray Road Safety Quiz - Dean Byrne and Jamie MacLeod Vehicle Defect Challenge - Kevin Pickering

have carried on, through furlough, through worrying about their families, and kept the waste moving.

Stuart has led the team in the yard and supported me throughout and I couldn’t be prouder of him!”

Many of the Binn Group staff work in desk based roles, not visible in the yard or out driving, but equally essential to the success of the business.

The staff member nominated for the Back Office Hero Award was Brenda Bruce. One of her line managers, Angus Nelson, said “Brenda has been with the company for over 13 years and has worked tirelessly in the transport department, supporting the team in an administrative capacity. Her passion and enthusiasm for the job is so evident and working with her is always a joy. We love her down to earth approach and she is always there to help,

whether that is the drivers or the customers.”

All of the drivers and supervisors have been the backbone of the company in the last 18 months, however it was Aaron Byrne who was selected from a huge choice of excellent drivers as the Transport Hero. One of his line managers, Mark Cairns, said “Aaron has been an excellent driver since day one at the Binn Group. He is always pleasant and polite and his customer care and work rate is absolutely brilliant! Its great to have such a fantastic young driver as part of the team!”

Binn Group would like to acknowledge the hard work carried out by all staff during the pandemic and their tireless efforts in delivering a high quality service to customers.

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Outstanding Individual Achievement Award Winner Ian Gibb (R) with Brian Harkins (L)

Community Hero Award Winner Katie McCandless-Thomas of Missing Pets with Stephen Leckie (L) and Brian Harkins (R)

Outstanding Group Achievement Award Winners St Johnstone Football Club (L-R) Manager Callum Davidson and Chairman Steve Brown with Brian Harkins Binn Group were once again delighted to be the main sponsor of last month’s prestigious Business Star Awards hosted by the Perthshire Chamber of Commerce. This year’s ‘Back for the Future’ awards returned with a bang at Crieff Hydro on Friday 19th November, after they were cancelled last year due to the pandemic.

Hosted by broadcaster and journalist, Stephen Jardine, and with an upbeat address from Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, the evening saw 11 awards handed out.

It also saw a change at the top of the Chamber with outgoing president, hotelier Stephen Leckie, handing over the BINN BUZZ | WINTER 2021

reins to new president, Perth businesswoman Lori McGaffney.

Perthshire Chamber Chief Executive Vicki Unite said: “It was so good to be able to host our business star awards again after such a difficult time for everyone and I am delighted that the event was a great success.

“It was a terrific night and the atmosphere was amazing. People came to celebrate, congratulate and support each other.

“There was a clear message of support and love from our local businesses through the trusted chamber network.

“It was a privilege to be able to highlight so many amazing

local businesses and individuals and promote them through our platforms, which will continue well into 2022 and beyond.”

Perthshire Chamber Platinum Partner Binn Group were delighted to be the main sponsor of the awards, with Binn’s Managing Director Brian Harkins presenting the Community Hero, Outstanding Group Achievement and Outstanding Individual Achievement awards.

Binn Group Chief Executive Allan MacGregor said: “We are delighted to be the main sponsor again. It has been a difficult couple of years for everyone, but we are all now looking forward to the future with confidence.”

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Binn Group Chairman John MacGregor

Celebrating Success at the Business Star Awards

(L-R): Anne Flaherty, Julia Wilby, Catriona Harkins, John MacGregor and Jill Reekie enjoy the DeLorean!

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Unrivalled views across the bay from St Andrews Holiday Park

Customer Focus: Abbeyford Leisure Abbeyford Leisure is one of the leading holiday park brands in Scotland and has been creating memorable holiday experiences for generations at their three award-winning coastal parks in the East Neuk of Fife.

Binn Group has provided recycling and waste management services for over ten years at the company’s three parks in St Andrews, Elie and St Monans which comprise over onethousand holiday homes. This includes the collection of general waste, mixed recycling, glass and food waste from multiple points across the parks, as well as skips BINN BUZZ | WINTER 2021

to remove soil, stones and old bases from pitch renovations.

it means our staff don’t need to lug heavy bins around.

Due to the seasonal nature of the business, Binn Group offers a flexible service whereby collection frequencies for recycling and general waste can be amended to reflect demand.

“Being able to alter collection frequencies to suit the needs of the business is also a huge benefit. We’ve developed a great relationship with our single pointof-contact representative who is always on hand to assist with any request or issue we have.

Geoff Little, General Manager of St Andrews Holiday Park, said: “Working with Binn Group over the last decade has changed the way we manage waste and recycling at our three parks.

Having multiple collection points across the parks makes it easy for holidaymakers to recycle, and

“Like ourselves, Binn Group is a family company who share our values and I’d highly recommend them to anyone looking for an innovative and environmentally conscious recycling and waste management provider.”

Callum McLaren

Chris Grant

Colin Dow

Dougie McConnell

Kevin Fair

Lee Jenson

Paul Gray

Robbie McArthur

Shaun Almond

Binn Group would like to offer a warm welcome to nine new members of our team who have joined our transport division over the last three months.

They bring a wealth of skills and experience with them and have been recruited into positions including class 2 trade waste drivers and spare men.

We’ll be featuring other new members of staff, including those in back office positions, in the next edition of the Binn Buzz.

Welcome to the Team: Meet Our New Starts 11

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Binn Group would like to thank all our staff and customers for their support this year.

We wish you all a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

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