Clarks Village Wins Green Apple Award

Clarks Village in Street is celebrating after securing a Bronze Award at the hotly contested International Green Apple Awards for Environmental Best Practice.

Chris Davis, Retail Manager at Clarks Village, and Jacquie Davies, Realm’s Portfolio Facilities Manager, attended a glittering presentation ceremony in the House of Commons to receive the accolade.

Speaking about the award Chris Davis said “At Clarks Village we are committed to a programme of consistent environmental improvement. In the last four years Clarks Village has increased its recycling rate from 56% to 87%, and 430 tonnes of waste a year is now diverted from landfill. This equates to around 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide being diverted from entering the atmosphere. As well as the environmental benefits, this has also saved the centre £13,000 in reduced landfill taxes and has reduced the number of waste compactor lifts from the centre.

“Our programme of environmental improvement has been embraced by our retailers and food outlets who have worked closely with our cleaning team to ensure all waste is properly segregated for easy management and disposal. Clarks Village also works with the charity ‘New Life’ which collects clothing, shoes and accessories, tents, suitcases and china and glass, which the charity separates and sorts to sell on in aid of children’s charities.

“We have also invested £250,000 on installing 100 solar panels on the rooftops of stores to provide energy for one of the centre’s retail buildings. This has resulted in the energy consumption within the building decreasing by 44%, saving 38.9 tons of CO2.”

He continued “We are delighted to receive this award, which recognises the efforts of the management team, cleaning team, retailers and food outlets all working together to ensure Clarks Village is as environmentally responsible as possible.”