Sheltered housing residents sit back and relax with Crown Paints

The City Mills development, on the banks of the River Ouse in York’s historic centre, has been given a new bench through Crown Paint’s Can Back Project.

In conjunction with national decorating firm Bell Group, about 400 empty paint containers were cleaned, diverted from landfill and turned into high density plastic seating – creating a long-lasting legacy for the community.

Crown Paints and Bell Group have teamed up on several City of York Council projects, including City Mills.

Bell Group often uses Sandtex Trade Flexigloss X-tra for exterior wood and Sandtex Trade Metalgloss X-tra for metal because they offer greater resistance to cracking, flaking and chalking than traditional gloss – extending maintenance cycles and saving money.

Local authority and social housing specifiers in York also value Crown Trade’s Timonox flame retardant coatings, which slow down the spread of fire, reducing damage and injury, and helping organisations fulfil their duty of care and health and safety responsibilities.

Crown Trade Clean Extreme emulsions, meanwhile, are often used in heavily-trafficked areas because they can withstand rigorous cleaning regimes – again, bringing down costs by extending maintenance cycles.

Crown Paints said the gift to City Mills was a symbol of the positive relationship it enjoyed with City of York Council, one of many local authorities the firm works with.

Dave Burkett, specification team manager at Crown Paints, said: “The bench is our gift to the local community and it also reflects our commitment to maximise the sustainability of our business practices and reduce the impact of our products on the environment.”

Paul Steedman, operations director at Bell Group, said: “Bell Group is committed to many initiatives relating to environmentally-friendly issues and sustainability in general, so we were delighted to work together with Crown Paints to ensure that the end result was something which will no doubt be a benefit to the community whilst at the same time reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill.”

The durability of Crown Paints products helps councils across the country meet sustainability targets and reduce long-term costs.

In addition, Crown has analysed the carbon footprint of every product it makes – a groundbreaking approach for the industry – and it intends to achieve a 10 per cent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by 2015, and a 25 per cent decrease by 2020.

Steve Lawson, senior projects surveyor at City of York Council, said: "It’s a lovely spot here, and the residents really enjoy using the bench and enjoying the views across the river.

"City of York Council has robust sustainability policies, and working with forward-thinking companies like Crown Paints helps us deliver those."

For further information please contact the Crown Paints Customer Relations Team. Tel: 0845 389 9583, email info@crowntrade.co.uk or visit  http://www.crowntrade.co.uk