New partnership formed to reduce waste at prominent London shopping centre

From 31 March 2025, the ‘Simpler Recycling’ legislation means that businesses must have a minimum number of recyclable waste streams presented for recycling or composting, to improve national recycling rates. However, effective waste segregation in large retail premises is complex with a high waste-stream contamination risk.

To get ahead of the curve, Churchill, West One, Weightron and waste management platform, Carrot, are partnering to reduce waste at the prominent shopping centre on Bond Street. The platform was launched at the start of December with around 50 retailer employees trained to use it; they have in turn been encouraged to train their colleagues.

Retailers use a scale and integrated touch screen to register their waste, with all data available on the Carrot dashboard in real time. The dashboard shows waste amounts and recycling rates, trends over time, as well as an overview of which waste types different tenants are expected to dispose of. The tenants also have real time access to their own data, creating accountability, unlocking insights and adding an element of competition amongst West One’s commercial tenants.

Carrot is a Norwegian company that has experienced success in both shopping centres and office buildings in Norway. At the Vestkanten Storsenter shopping centre, recycling rates increased from 54 per cent to 70 per cent and contamination rates dropped by 90 per cent. West One is the first British Land retail site to use Carrot and it hopes to see similar results. Veolia is the waste management partner and has been involved throughout the new process.

Cheryl-Anne Cooper, National Operations Director at Churchill Group, said: “We’re passionate about doing the right thing and better waste management is exactly that. We hope that this platform will help West One far exceed its compliance obligations as retailers strive to outperform each other. I’m excited to see the impact this will have and to explore the opportunities for its use across other retail estates we work in.”

Cyrus Annan, Centre Manager at West One, commented: “We’re very impressed with what Carrot has achieved in other retail sites. Combined with Churchill Group’s track record of innovation and sustainability, we’re confident that this platform will have a very positive impact at West One. We have a lot of food outlets so we’re particularly hopeful of greatly reducing the amount of contaminated waste and aligning with the new Simpler Recycling mandates.”