Partners in eco-cleaning
Meet Roberto Machado from Dimeo, our long-time partner in sustainable cleanliness & dear friend of the International Towers family.
International Towers is proud to have long, established relationships with many of our partner suppliers, a number of which date back to when we first opened the doors. But there aren’t many like professional cleaning agency Dimeo, which was on the team even before then, helping us keep the precinct clean, compliant and sustainable while we were still building.
Back then, Roberto Machado was a junior cleaner working on Dimeo’s International Towers contract, newly migrated from Spain. Since then and now, he’s worked his way up through the Dimeo ranks to become Operations & Technology Manager, and there’s nothing he loves more than talking about the great work being done at International Towers, so we asked him all about it.
Foundation of sustainability
“I’ve been working for Dimeo here at International Towers since the very beginning,” says Roberto. “It was very soon after I first arrived in Australia from Spain. We were taking care of the precinct before construction had even finished. It’s been so exciting watching the creation of International Towers, and then being a close working partner in so many achievements in sustainability over the years.”
Roberto’s progression from cleaner to executive at Dimeo is certainly impressive and it reflects the company’s commitment to investing in its staff, but surely the promotional opportunity would have involved moving away from International Towers to work on different contracts at other locations?
“Oh I was offered other streams of work at other sites,” Roberto confirms with a smile, “but I loved working at International Towers so much I asked to stay, and the company totally supported my request. And that’s typical of Dimeo as an organisation, they really support their staff and look after us, it’s like a community.”
Award winning eco-initiatives
The Dimeo partnership has played a pivotal role in helping International Towers achieve a long list of sustainability awards and recognition over the years, including our 6 star Green Star Performance across all office buildings in the precinct.
When asked if there is a particular initiative that is close to his heart, without blinking Roberto mentions the ‘Use, Reuse & Recycle’ scheme dedicated to creating more diversions away from landfill. “It’s an incredible community program where we use our local networks to find good homes for stuff that would otherwise be heading to landfill. My favourite example so far is when a tenant partner who was moving out had around 300 screens they asked us to dispose of. Without our community connections they could well have ended up in landfill, however through relationships with local enterprises and the Red Cross we ensured every last screen went to someone who really needed it.”
At the time of writing, Dimeo has around 300 staff onsite at International Towers, everyone of them a highly valued part of finely tuned environmentally friendly cleaning and waste management processes. Roberto and his team are known for always looking forward to where the next eco efficiency opportunity may be, so we end by asking him what the future holds for sustainability strategy around our precinct?
“Absolute Zero carbon by 2040,” says Roberto with another smile. “Making sure we keep those six stars every step of the way.”