An eco-friendly shopping centre hailed as the greenest in Wales is in the running for a major UK award.
Eagles Meadow in Wrexham has been nominated for an Environmental Excellence Award from the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM).
The nomination in the Sustainable Facilities Management category came about because of the centre’s record in reducing waste and slashing energy use.
After a major campaign last year, Eagles Meadow now uses 11 per cent less electricity and 35 per cent less water which equates to 1.8 million litres.
The shopping centre already recycles 92 per cent of the waste produced there – that’s way ahead of the Welsh Government’s recycling targets.
The Government’s statutory target is to recycle 52 per cent of Welsh waste this year, 70 per cent by 2025 and to have zero waste by 2050.
The winners of the CIWM Awards will be announced during a glittering ceremony at the London Marriott Hotel, in Grosvenor Square, on November 7.
The nomination is a source of great pride to Eagles Meadow Manager Kevin Critchley who has masterminded the campaign.
He paid tribute to the contribution of the whole team at the shopping centre, including Operations Manager Stuart Bellis along with the cleaning, maintenance and security staff.
Mr Critchley said: “Shopping centres are huge buildings and they consume huge amounts of resources, both in the construction and in the on-going running of them.
“We really do think that it’s up to us to do our absolute best to reduce the environmental impact of the building.
“In relation to the waste, we’ve gone from a very low point where we were only recycling 10 to 20 per cent of it to a point where we are recycling more than 90 per cent.
“We’re reducing the consumption of water and electric every year and we recycle 100 per cent of our cardboard and glass. I’m now looking at ways of upping the percentage of the compacted waste that’s being recycled.
“We’re not making these improvements by spending money on low energy fittings and new control gear and so on because you actually end up using more resources to do so.
“Instead of one big huge saving, what we’re getting is lots and lots of small savings all over the place.
“The success of what we’re doing is down to the support and enthusiasm of the whole team.
“Fortunately, we’re backed up by an owner who’s got a very green policy and has provided fantastic support.”
“One of the things I’m very pleased with for example is that stores at Eagles Meadow are also very supportive.
“It’s the nature of the beast that shops will want to dispose of damaged clothes or get rid of clothes, shoes or bags from a discontinued range.
“Instead of just throwing them away, we have started gathering them all together and giving them to the town’s Nightingale House Hospice so that they can sell them to boost their funds.
“It’s a very simple idea, but it works. Everyone’s a winner.”
