A BASINGSTOKE shopping centre has celebrated its commitment to green initiatives on Global Recycling Day.

Festival Place’s commitment to green initiatives has seen the shopping centre scoop numerous national awards over the past decade.

With the national day on Monday, March 18, the centre still places a huge importance on its environmental credentials.

Festival Place's head of marketing Emily Palmer, said: “Festival Place really is a green champion.

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"We’ve won numerous Green Hero and Green Apple environmental awards through our commitment to protecting the environment, and we will continue to adopt as many measures as we can to boost our eco efficiency.”

The team has been awarded three Green Hero and 10 Green Apple awards for its recycling efforts and last year won the Environmental Best Practice Award for its trial to reduce energy consumption using its 16 air handling units (AHUs), which control the supply of fresh and warm air to the shopping centre.

It has also contributed to the wellbeing of the Basingstoke community by creating a Giving Garden outside the centre, where local people can connect with plants to support their mental health and the fauna planted was selected to be beneficial to bees and insects.

Festival Place was also one of the first shopping centres to operate an on-site Materials Facility and Food Digestion Facility turning food waste into grey water.

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Aluminium drinks cans are made into ingots, recycled into new cans, filled and put back on the shelf within six weeks, and more than 150 tonnes of glass and 215 tonnes of cardboard is recycled annually. Some 150 tonnes of glass and 215 tonnes of carboard is recycled annually.  

One of the first shopping centres in the UK to install Propelair low-flush toilets, its environmentally-friendly toilets save water, save money, reduce carbon emissions and improve hygiene for visitors. The public toilets also have waterless urinals and sensor taps.

More than 95 per cent of suppliers have also shown their commitment to ethical procurement and business practices, and many of our retailers offer eco-friendly and sustainably sourced products.