Boosting the Sustainability of Manor Walks Shopping Centre

Manor Walks Shopping Centre provides a shopping and leisure experience to the community of Cramlington, Northumberland. In 2018, a five-year D’Carbo-nation project was launched to improve the environmental sustainability of the centre in partnership with ABM’s client, Workman LLP.

Challenge

The focus was on long-term positive change for the site and a reduction in the carbon footprint. The team acknowledged a need to improve recycling rates and systems while also ensuring financial savings. There was also a chance to help the local community by building a sustainable, green wildlife space around the site to support the local bee population.

Solution

Several activities were identified that, if implemented, would reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the site. The following changes were investigated and implemented:
- In 2020, all lighting was replaced with low-power LED lighting.
- All fossil-fuel powered equipment changed to electric power.
- A new recycling system was implemented that returns rebates on cardboard and segregated plastics.
- The financial benefits of these activities were also shared with tenants of the shopping centre to promote further improvements.

Benefits

Environmental
- The new system increased recycling and created a zero-landfill status for the site from 2018.
- The recycling system has reduced tenants’ general waste from 1,820 to 36.4 tonnes.
- The LED lighting has allowed a reduction in GHG emissions for the facility with 360,489 kWh saved in 2021 compared with 2019. Manor Walks recognize that the Covid-19 pandemic played a role in the reduction of kWh usage, because of the reduced use of the shopping centre during lockdowns.
- Replacing high energy-consuming equipment across the estate has resulted in GHG emissions saving, when comparing 2021 post retrofit, with a 2019 baseline of 111.8 TCO2e of GHG emissions.
- The site has replaced 90 percent of the petrol vehicles and replaced them with electric and battery-powered vehicles and tools.
- Rainwater collection and conservation systems have been introduced to water the site’s nursery.

Economic
- These changes have reduced electricity costs by 54 percent, representing a £54,000 saving (based on a provided cost of 0.15p).
- It is estimated that the site’s Biodiversity and D’Carbo-nation projects have created approximate savings of £50,000 over the past three years.
- Purchasing fully grown plants saved around £3,000 per year. Savings were also made by using collected rainwater for plants and wildlife across the site.
- The savings from segregation and engagement activities allowed for the hire of balers to create bales of recycling products. This resulted in no cost to recycling whereas, historically, these costs were around £400 a month.

Social
- The project has resulted in educational opportunities for shoppers, tenants, staff and leisure facility users on sustainability and the environment.
- All food and general waste now goes directly to incineration for waste-to-energy purposes, supporting the UK policy to net zero.
- The project also helped the centre to win a Green Apple Environment Award.
- The site’s sense of community has been boosted where everyone gets involved and works together.

“Three years into this five-year project, there has been a reduction of environmental impacts such as lowered GHG emissions and increased savings on utility and waste bills.”

ABM boosted Manor Walk's sustainability. Find out how we can make it possible for you by visiting ABM.co.uk

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