A trio of Shropshire shopping centres are cleaning up when it comes to going green.
Shrewsbury’s Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres now boast a 100 per cent recycling record with every item of waste now being recycled.
That’s thanks to a partnership between the centres and local waste management experts Cartwright’s Waste Disposal, of Telford.
Kevin Lockwood, Manager of the Darwin, pride Hill and Riverside Centres, said: “We have been conscious of the need to avoid sending waste material to landfill if we could possibly avoid it.
“We have been working closely with our tenants and with Cartwright’s and also with national company Veolia to try and make sure we stay as green as we can.
“It’s good for the planet and it’s good business practice too and so we’ve been gradually putting systems in place and working towards the goal of 100 per cent recycling.
“We now recycle the food waste from the cafes in the centre and as you can imagine that adds up to an awful lot over the course of a year, estimated on average 30 tonnes per annum.
“Shopping centres also produce plenty of other mixed waste in the form of paper, packaging and cardboard but we’re proud to say that we have cleaned up our act completely with a rate of 100% recycled.”
They called in Cartwright’s Waste Disposal of Telford to help them and Jodi Cartwright, whose father, John, set up the business over 30 years ago with just one lorry, and now runs a fleet of 15 trucks in total, said: “Kevin rang us up and asked what we could do for them.
“So we set up a Total Waste Management package for the shopping centres, which enables us to give the centres a zero to landfill title.
“All mixed waste is collected and bought back to our MRF – materials recycling facility – where it is then processed with start of the art equipment.
“All waste that can be recycled is sent onto recycle outlets. All other waste that cannot be recycled is sent to be made into fuel so nothing goes to waste.
“The food waste is collected using a special vehicle and that is sent to Harper Energy, Telford where it is turned into electricity through an anaerobic digestion process.”
