TIC Group has won the 2016 Banksia Award for Leadership in the Circular Economy, crowning a year of highlights for the innovative company.
General Manager of Marketing Lina Goodman accepted the Banksia award on behalf of the company at the prestigious ceremony at the University of Sydney, held as part of this year’s Sustainable Development Goals Australia conference (SDGA16).
TIC’s award submission highlighted its sustainability work over 27 years, which started with transforming the way retailers and manufacturers use garment hangers. Under the direction of the firm’s owners, Mark Gandur and David Harris, its scope of solutions have expanded to managing store returns (creating a sustainable pathway for re-use, re-purposing of products), in-store marketing solutions, Solvup product repair and troubleshooting software platform and automated mattress deconstruction.
The Banksia award tops off a year that has seen TIC Group’s profile grow in the sustainability sector. In October, it held the official industry opening of its automated mattress deconstruction plant in Tottenham, near Melbourne, and its Solvup software won the “Innovative Products or Services” category in the 2016 Victorian Premier’s Sustainability Awards.
Commenting on the Banksia accolade, Ms Goodman said it highlights TIC Group’s ongoing commitment to smarter business design and technology to extend the lifecycle of products, reduce waste to landfill, and create new supply chain pathways that previously did not exist.
“TIC Group has embedded circular economy principles into our operations from day one,” said Ms Goodman, “We have innovation in mind and sustainability at heart.”
“We have a proven track record. Each day TIC Group re-uses over 1 million garment hangers globally, diverts thousands of mattresses from going to landfill and our Solvup package is extending the life of hundreds of thousands of retail products each year,” she added.