General News

Fremlin Walk Eco Bag

20 March 2008

As the chancellor Alistair Darling increases pressure on the retail industry to reduce the use of plastic bags, Fremlin Walk Maidstone is already setting an example to the rest of the county.

The centre has introduced a stylish, canvas eco bag for shoppers to carry and over the last 12 months has increased its recycling levels to almost 100 per cent.

Lloyd Wright, centre manager said, "We take our environmental responsibilities very seriously, as do many others in the retail industry. At Fremlin Walk we are proving that with a little thought and investment it is possible to create environmentally friendly trading."

Pre-empting Alistair Darling's budget announcement, Fremlin Walk introduced its eco bag at the end of 2007. The 100 per cent cotton bags are made from environmentally–friendly products and sourced from a Fair Trade organisation supporting under-privileged communities in India. The bags are available to buy from Fremlin Walk's Management Suite (next to the Earl Street entrance, and cost £3.00 with all proceeds going to charity. 

Daily operations at the centre are also environmentally friendly, with recycling at its highest ever level of  99.75%. All cardboard, plastic, glass, metal, even light bulbs from the shops are recycled and waste food from the Fremlin Walk's cafes and restaurant taken to a composting site. General waste is now taken to a waste to energy plant not landfill and even the centre's cleaning supplies have been reduced to just 4 biodegradable products. Along with the introduction of re-usable micro fibre cloths the time the water flows in the toilets' wash hand basins is also monitored to save on water wastage.

Lloyd Wright continued; "Shopping is one of the nation's favourite activities and each week we have more than 150,000 people visit Fremlin Walk. We want people to feel they can enjoy their leisure time knowing that we are making every effort to protect our environment and help shoppers make a positive contribution."