UNITED KINGDOM: London-based business reinvents the rubbish bin, making its new recycling containers bomb-proof and sticking LCD screens on the side to tell Londoners about breaking news

Record ID: 357463

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: London-based business reinvents the rubbish bin, making its new recycling containers bomb-proof and sticking LCD screens on the side to tell Londoners about breaking news
  • Date: 17th February 2012
  • Summary: SCREEN DISPLAY WITH HEADLINES ABOUT GREECE AND SYRIA.
  • Embargoed: 3rd March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom, United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Fashion,Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAF50VK2IWNU5UB6L5N1DBN7MUQ
  • Story Text: A rubbish bin that makes you look twice has debuted in London.
    As you throw away your old newspaper, its bomb-proof containers have LCD screens on each side which show breaking news and financial data.
    London-based firm Renew has invented these unique recycling points.
    Renew, a brainchild of two former London School of Economics students, will install 100 bomb-proof bins in London's financial district before the Olympics kicks off in July.
    "It's made out of fibreglass, which is the same thing that your surfboard is made from, but underneath is very toughened material so there's toughened glass that sits at either end of it and there's a super strong structure in the centre of it, which is four times stronger than steel, and that's been designed to withstand extreme pressures," said Kevin Memari, the company's CEO.
    Renew has a contract to put the pods in the UK capital's financial district - an area where traditional bins are sometimes considered bomb threats and where free newspapers are handed out, increasing the need for recycling.
    Renew's small editorial team select stories from the day's top news.
    Around a minute after being published, the headline appears on the pod.
    "In the morning between six and seven we get out our corporate news because we assume if you're on the street between six and seven, that might be something that's important to you. Then we get out the general news -- by eight o clock the markets open so we start getting a flood of data coming in from the London Stock Exchange, by eight thirty, nine, it's more generic, it's more sports and general news and by the evening it's more arts and lifestyle because we assume you've seen enough of the markets by then so actually the tone of the channel changes throughout the day."
    But so far, not all City workers have noticed the pods.
    "All I could see really was something to advertise, didn't appreciate it was even recycling," said city worker Nick Blakemore.
    The UK-made bins cost £25,000 each - and Renew has secured funding from a range of investors including the Qatari Islamic Bank.
    They are due to trial in the soon U.S. with one bin outside the New York Stock Exchange and are in talks with authorities in Singapore and Japan - so soon commuters around the world could be reading the news and recycling on the go.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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