Manchester Fort celebrates success of Waste Management and Recycling Programme

A leading retail park in Manchester is celebrating the success of its waste management and recycling programme.

Manchester Fort Shopping Park in Cheetham Hill now recycles almost 90 per cent of waste collected and is on course to achieve 100 per cent in the near future.

The impressive results have been achieved thanks to the partnership between the Fort and B&M Waste Services and Workman Facilities Management.

B&M initially identified a number of objectives before implementing the waste management programme including the need to improve the efficiency of waste collections, reduce carbon emissions through fewer waste vehicles visiting the site and increase recycling rates through better waste segregation and avoiding contamination of waste streams.

More than 12,300kg of waste is collected in a typical month with a recycling rate of 89 per cent. Going forward, the remaining residual waste will be converted to Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) by utilising B&M’s recently opened £1million RDF facility in Trafford Park.

The success at Manchester Fort follows the announcement that B&M Waste Services has secured a contract with another major Manchester shopping outlet, The Lowry.

B&M is responsible for the collection of Manchester Fort’s general and food waste, cardboard, glass and dry mixed recycling as well as providing staff with waste management training.

Wendy Mitchell, of B&M Waste Services, said: “We are delighted with the success of our partnership at Manchester Fort. The results owe a lot to the retail park’s staff who we have helped understand the fundamental difference they can make to the successful achievement of the targets and who are regularly informed of their progress.

“We provide Workman with a comprehensive reporting system endorsed by the organisation Carbon Footprint which details the amount of carbon saved, the equivalent number of trees and car miles and the amount of material reused for RDF.

“We are particularly excited about the benefits our new RDF facility in Trafford Park will bring, delivering 100 per cent diversion from landfill in a cost effective, compliant and sustainable way.”

B&M has a number of high profile clients in Greater Manchester and across the UK including retailers, schools, universities, hospitals, hotels, manufacturing sites, large corporates and SMEs.

The company is one of the UK’s largest independent waste and recycling specialists employing more than 170 people across its sites in Trafford Park, Wirral and Norwich.