Case Study on Managing Shopping Centre Waste Effectively.

• Sector: Retail
• Name of Partners: Clare County Council & SkyCourt Shopping Centre.
• Location: Shannon, County Clare.

Aims of the Project:

SkyCourt Shannon Shopping Centre is a managed centre which has over 50 retail units and two shopping centre’s, it has a strong focus on food retailing as it has an industrial hinterland of manufacturing and service industries which engages 12,500 employees. The aim of this project was to prevent waste arising from individual units within a managed shopping centre ending up as landfill waste. The  project aimed to encourage tenants to segregate their waste so it could be recycled or converted to compost and where possible to prevent waste from arising at all.

Project Description:

Waste is managed centrally by a facilities management team and at the outset of this project approximately 3.6 tonnes of waste were generated in the centre on a weekly basis. A detailed audit at the outset of the project determined that less than 40% of this waste was presented as segregated waste suitable for recycling, primarily cardboard and plastic film. A new waste handling system was designed in conjunction with the Centre’s waste contractor and in agreement with the individual tenants which saw the introduction of a separate system to segregate organic waste for compost and an improved system to capture a greater percentage of dry recyclables. Significant time and effort was spent throughout the project on raising the profile of waste with tenants so they could gain a better understanding of why it is of importance to prevent and segregate waste.

Achievements & Lessons:

The main focus of the project was to divert waste from landfill and it has proved very successful: 15% of waste has now been diverted from landfill to compost and the recycling rate has increased from 26% to 38%. The individual tenants at the centre embraced the project in a very positive manner and even though there would be a relatively high level of staff turnover in some units levels of contamination are very low for a centre of its size. Significant financial savings have also been realised by the centre and the project is perceived by management and tenants alike very positively

Waste awareness is now more prevalent amongst the retailers. Some efforts were made to introduce reusable transit packaging but this proved difficult where suppliers are located outside of Ireland and as a consequence of the economic downturn. However, the growing awareness of waste and its cost to business is likely to bring influence in this area in the near future. One food retailer prevented waste and made significant financial savings by introducing crockery rather than disposable packaging for eat in customers.

Photos from this case study can be viewed in the Photo Gallery.

More Information:
Contact The Waste Prevention Team at rwmo@limerickcoco.ie.