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Why Retail is the Perfect Environment for Waste Reduction

Why Retail is the Perfect Environment for Waste Reduction

When this UK based retail giant wanted to reach new sustainability goals in one of their outlets, they turned to ABM. Together, we were able to institute practices that helped this shopping center reach near zero-landfill.

February 10, 2020
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Victoria Leeds
Waste Management Services

Victoria Leeds, Yorkshire’s premier shopping destination, comprises of Victoria Quarter & Victoria Gate and is home to over 2,000 leading designer brands, with 120 stylish stores and major department stores including Harvey Nichols and John Lewis. Victoria Leeds offers customers the latest in fashion, beauty, and homeware. Hammerson, which owns and manages Victoria Leeds, owns and operates high-quality flagship destinations and premium outlets in key cities across the UK and Europe.

Challenge

Victoria Leeds wanted to increase the recycling rate of its commercial facilities and reduce its waste management costs. The recycling rate of 44.72% was comprised of half general waste and half dry mix recycling waste.

Solution

ABM’s UK team created a new position, using an existing team member to become a dedicated waste champion with a sole aim of improving Victoria Leeds' waste management procedures. First, our waste champion put in place a retailer engagement programme to educate and motivate the retail staff to adopt good practice of waste segregation. In addition, a programme of collecting waste coffee grounds from the food and beverage retailers was put in place.

Coffee grounds are a natural soil enricher and are now used within the external landscaping areas around the centre.

The centre then had RFID trackers installed in all bins. This gave accurate weights of each waste stream and prevented us from being overcharged for non-collected waste. This in turn helped to further lower the overall waste costs. The site also had site-specific waste signage created to aid the retailers. ABM also has a Biohitech food digester, which currently diverts around 1 tonne of retailer/restaurant food waste per week away from landfill.

Benefits

As a result, the recycling rates of Victoria Leeds increased to 97% - surpassing the company’s original target of 90%. Also, the number of bins was reduced, and the shopping centre diverted 1.5 tons of coffee waste from general waste streams after only seven months.

The waste bill was reduced by £23,000, reaching cost-saving targets and reducing the number of collections per week. Victoria Leeds plans to build on this success by replicating ABM’s program in 11 other Hammerson shopping centres.

In addition, the centre has just been awarded the prestigious Green Apple Award for Environmental Best Practice to be collected from the Houses of Parliament, Palace of Westminster in November.

Victoria Leeds is a retail and leisure destination in England’s Leeds City Centre. It features a casino and more than 80 stores, including approximately 10 restaurants and coffee shops.

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