As retail prepares to open across England a Doncaster shopping outlet is making sure that the environment is high on its agenda by making a number of green pledges for 2021.
The management team at Lakeside Village shopping outlet are keen to hold themselves to account by setting out their plans and promising to review their achievements at the end of the year.
Before the pandemic forced retail closures, recycling at the centre stood at 77 percent and the team are pledging to work to improve this figure during 2021.
Di Rodgers, centre manager at Lakeside Village, said: “The past year has been very difficult for the retail sector and we are all looking forward to safely reopening stores and welcoming customers back to the centre.
“We have always worked to ensure that we find ways to improve our environmental impact and while we are really proud of our achievements in this area, we know that we can all do more.
“Last year we had a number of plans that unfortunately weren’t able to happen, we did manage to arrange a litter pick around the Lakeside area with key partners including McDonalds and Business Doncaster, who were extremely supportive.
“This year we want to build on this with more proactive activities and a further increase in our recycling rates.
In 2019 some 219* tonnes of waste were recycled from the centre including cardboard, soft plastic, coat hangers, glass, metal and paper.
The centre management also works with its retailers and food outlets to make sure that any food waste is recycled and sent off to be turned into renewable energy and nutrient rich bio fertiliser for local farmers. The onsite Gregg’s donates leftover food to a local homeless shelter on a weekly basis.
In 2021 Lakeside is pledging to:
“We will review our progress on these pledges quarterly and explore further ways that we can improve the environment in which we work and the surrounding area.
“As we prepare to fully reopen the centre, we want to make sure that we do so in the best possible way making shopping a safe activity for customers but also encouraging people to think about positive changes that they can make to the way in which they work and the environment around them.
“We’re hoping to see other businesses in the area pledge to do more this year and we’re more than happy to talk to our neighbouring businesses to see what we can achieve together,” added Di.
For further information visit www.lakeside-village.co.uk
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