29/04/2013

Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.

Thursday 25^th April – Today, the SMILE Resource Exchange event at TALLAGHT Stadium, Dublin, welcomed over 50 businesses to exchange surplus products, by products and reusable items, in order to save money, help the environment by diverting waste from landfill and to identify new business opportunities out of turning a waste into a resource. 177 potential exchanges were identified between the businesses in attendance.

Mayor Cathal King said “In the current climate, businesses welcome new and innovative ways to save and make money - SMILE Exchange Resource can help businesses tick both those boxes. The use and reuse of resources is an important part of waste prevention. Even better with the SMILE Resource Exchange programme all resources offered are either free of charge or below market value, and are valuable resources in their own right.”

An added advantage of this SMILE event was the opportunity for participants to attend Eco-Design, Waste Prevention and Energy Management workshops. These workshops provided a series of case studies presented on best practice eco design and examples of ways to reduce waste during the design of a product. Energy bills were also reviewed on a one to one basis in the afternoon of the event.

Loman O’Byrne stated” The SMILES event was a great success. It shows what can be achieved when local businesses and agencies work together. Of course, reducing cost while helping the environment is a powerful idea but it is still quite something to actually see it come to fruition. I am delighted that the South Dublin County Enterprise Board got involved in this and it is a very good indicator of how the new Local Enterprise Office will work when the Enterprise Board and the County Council are fully integrated later this year. Hopefully, this can become a regular event in the Dublin region”

Andrea Carroll, Sustainable Business Executive, South Dublin Chamber,said South Dublin Chamber are delighted to have played a part in making sustainable business a reality in South Dublin, through the SMILE event. Initiatives such as this one are innovative and exciting and demonstrate a new era in Irish business. There is no waste, just an untapped resource. Thanks so much to all of the businesses that attended the event and helped to make it such a success.

Speaking at the event, Michelle Green, Project Manager, SMILE said, “We are delighted to have identified 165 potential exchanges between 50 businesses at our Dublin SMILE event at Tallaght Stadium today, which was a tremendous success. Since its inception, SMILE Resource Exchange has identified over 2,000 potential matches between businesses as well as identifying thousands of Euros of cost savings for businesses; and while it will take our team some time to quantify and calculate potential cost savings to businesses from our Dublin event, we’re really looking forward to achieving similar encouraging statistics.”

IKEA, Pfizer, Early Childhood Ireland, Irish Ferries and Repak Recycling were amongst the many businesses in attendance on the day to see if there were opportunities for other businesses to reuse some of their unwanted items such as steel drums, sofas and chairs, children’s play bandstand, IT equipment, wood pallets etc.

Keiron Philips, Project Manager of the Green Business Initiative at the Environmental Protection Agency said, “The EPA are delighted to support SMILE in this exciting project. It’s great to see that businesses are getting together to exchange resources, which hopefully will generate savings for them, and benefit the environment"

SMILE stands for Saving Money through Industry Links & Exchanges. Potential exchanges are identified through SMILE networking events, an online exchange facility (www.smileexchange.ie) and the SMILE support team. SMILE Resource Exchange is funded primarily by the Environmental Protection Agency, partnering with the relevant enterprise boards.

For further information on the SMILE Exchange Events, please contact: 01 436 1864 / www.smileexchange.ie

SMILE is funded under the National Waste Prevention Programme set-up in 2004.

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  Smile Conference