ESG

Developing a Sustainable centre:mk

As one of the first ‘mega-malls’ of its kind in the UK, centre:mk has been given a unique Grade II listing status, which means that we have a duty to retain certain architectural features. This can sometimes present a challenge, especially when we set ourselves targets such as reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2035!

Some of things we’re doing to actively achieve that goal include; creating a carbon neutral environment, reducing the natural resources we use, and planting for our environment to name just a few. Read on below for a deep dive into our incredible projects…

Carbon Neutral Environment

centre:mk is famous for having everything under one roof, so the 100,000m² roof is a good place to start.

Since 2015, we have created the first carbon neutralising shopping centre roof in the UK.
Our roof covers the equivalent of 17 football fields.
Every 1m² of roof can convert 1.75kg of CO₂ per year, saving the equivalent of almost 440,000 miles worth of greenhouse gas emissions from your average family car.

THE SCIENCY BIT:

Rainfall and CO₂ reacts with the surface of the Olivine (the particles on our centre roof) which turn the CO₂ into a combination of water, sand and magnesium carbonate, all of which are 100% neutral in their effect on the environment.
In less than a year we convert enough carbon to power enough kettles to make 2 million cups of tea!

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Reducing the Natural Resources we use

Reducing the electricity and gas used at centre:mk is an ongoing project. By switching off our lights 3 hours earlier each day and replacing 600 bulbs with LEDs, we’ve saved enough energy to charge 11.7m mobile phones without any additional CO₂ emissions

The greenhouse gas emissions that we’ve saved are equivalent to 110 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide, or:

87.7 cars driven for a year
1,013,656 miles driven by an average car

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Planting for the Environment

The planters throughout the centre not only provide a pleasant space for everyone to enjoy, they also help to absorb CO₂ too. We have 860m² of planting throughout the centre and 1200m² within our external areas helping to reduce fatigue, sore throats, colds and coughs by as much as 30%.

Behind the scenes we are at home with nature too. Our rooftop wild garden is a natural habitat with bee boxes, flowers, and vegetation to provide a home for insects, bees and birds to thrive.