Arguably one of the most iconic shopping centres in the UK, intu Trafford Centre attracts over 31 million visitors per year. With over 200 retail and 60 catering units, this large, North West shopping centre produces up to 6,500 tonnes of waste every year.

I need flexibility from my waste service provider to be able to respond to the large quantity of waste that intu Trafford Centre produces on a regular basis.

We wanted to change waste service providers because the service that we were getting just wasn’t good enough.

EXPERIENCE WITH JWS

When we went out to tender for our waste management contracts, we were looking for service and also a good reputation for good waste management services.

JWS came in and they were competitive with their price, their service levels were excellent and also their environmental credentials were really sound.

From the very start of the partnership, both intu Trafford Centre and JWS have been dedicated to improving the impact that waste management has for both the shopping centre and the environment.

Whilst working together, they have gone on to win multiple environmental awards including a silver Green Apple Award in 2016 and a Green World Environment Award in 2017.

A Focus on Food Waste

One of the most significant changes followed the initiation of a new project that aimed to tackle one of the most significant waste streams the centre produces: food waste.

The Food Waste project implemented a segregated service that reduced contamination and improved the recycling/recovery value of other waste streams.

In just 12 months after the Food Waste Project was launched, more than 166 tonnes of food waste was diverted from the general waste. This averaged at 13.8 tonnes per month, equating to 3.83% of intu Trafford Centre’s total waste.

17 months on, the project has resulted in 349 tonnes of food waste being collected and broken down using the AD process. This equated to 13,204 kWh and 314.1 tonnes of fertiliser being produced through the recycling treatment.