Merry Hill brings shoppers along in sustainability drive

15 Mar 2024

Published in: Member News

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Merry Hill brings shoppers along in sustainability drive

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With Global Recycling Day just round the corner (Monday 18th March), Merry Hill has unveiled a new mural highlighting the sustainability achievements of the centre to date.

The mural, located in Eat Central, highlights the work that is done behind the scenes at the top UK retail location.

The mural shares achievements previously unknown to visitors such as the centres’ efforts to recycle nearly 50% of all its waste which includes cardboard, food waste and glass, the carbon saving from which would power 384 houses. With a zero to landfill approach the remaining waste is used for energy recovery – generating renewable energy and valuable byproducts.

Alongside this, Merry Hill has recently installed 2,500 solar panels on the vast centre roof, which power one in four of the lights at the centre with clean energy.

The centre is also home to over 1,000 trees, and 92 EV chargers, and hosts events with its West Midlands-based sustainability partner Wild Earth Movement.

This has all helped Merry Hill win two Green Apple Environment Awards, which recognise environmental best practice around the world.

Sustainable Shopping at Merry Hill From recycling unwanted clothes to bringing your own shopping bag, even the smallest of changes add up to make a real difference and can earn you some rewards from retailers at Merry Hill too. Here are some of the sustainable initiatives to take advantage of on your next visit to the centre:

1. Lush’s packaging-free haircare At Lush, you can purchase solid bars to replace traditional bottled shampoo. The highly concentrated bars are plastic free and self- preserving, with each lasting for around 80 uses. A great alternative to liquid shampoo, Lush shampoo bars take less energy and water to produce and are affordable and entirely plastic-free. Priced at £9 and packed with natural ingredients, one bar can replace three 250g bottles of liquid shampoo. To view the full range, click here.

2. H&M’s recycled materials If you’re refreshing your wardrobe ahead of the Spring/Summer, H&M has a range of clothing made from sustainable materials. Its ‘Conscious’ clothing line spans across all departments, with each product containing at least 50% sustainable materials, like organic cotton or recycled polyester. H&M also allows you to collect points every time you purchase a ‘Conscious’ item – just look for the green hangtag on garments in-store. And for the littles ones, H&M’s latest children’s collection, bottle2fashion, transforms plastic bottle waste from across the islands of Indonesia into recycled polyester.

3. Recycle clothes? M&S, Mango, and H&M offer a free textile recycling service in-store, where you can exchange clothing for exclusive discounts, money-off vouchers, or even points to redeem on cinema tickets or social action projects. So why not give those unwanted clothes, bags and footwear a new lease of life and recycle them?

4. Holland & Barrett supplements Your favourite supplements have had an upgrade. Now packaged in recycled plastic bottles, Holland & Barrett’s vitamins and supplements are not only beneficial to your health, but also kinder to the environment.

5. Bring your own bag At H&M, you can even collect member points for remembering your own bag. If you do forget, plenty of our stores stock reusable shopping totes, such as this Fairtrade cotton bag from Lush, which also supports women in India by offering training and employment handcrafting sustainable textile products.

Jonathan Poole, Centre Manager at Merry Hill said: “So much goes on behind the scenes at Merry Hill to give our visitors an unrivalled and convenient shopping experience but also to create a sustainable centre for future generations. The changes made by our valued team, colleagues and shoppers has helped us make good progress towards becoming a more sustainable retail destination; one that takes its responsibility to the local environment and community seriously.

“The mural highlights some of the amazing work that’s been done, and we’re determined to keep improving. With over 175 brands at the centre, many of which are leading the way with the sustainable products and initiatives they provide, there’s lots of ways to shop more sustainably when visiting Merry Hill.”

More information can be found at mymerryhill.co.uk.