Wondering about the feasibility of achieving Zero Waste To Landfill (ZWTL) in the retail industry? Look no further. Liberty Promenade sets a pioneering example as the first mall in South Africa to attain the Net Zero Waste Level 2 Certification from the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA).
Find out more in this brief case study about how WastePlan has empowered Liberty Promenade to achieve this groundbreaking milestone – through specialised waste management services that resulted in an a average waste diversion rate of 90% for a period of 12 months.
Liberty Promenade is the mall of choice for the Mitchell’s Plain and Khayelitsha communities in Cape Town, with over 1 million shoppers per month. Located on an area of 90 000m2, it has seen rapid expansion over the years and now boasts over 180 stores. These include homeware and speciality stores, fashion to popular eateries.
The biggest challenge at any retail facility such as Liberty Promenade is the high volumes of organic waste generated by food tenants, and the resulting contamination of recyclables.
The significant increase in the volume of food waste generated during peak seasons is addressed through intensive effort by the individual tenants who generate food waste to maintain a high degree of separation at source, and the WastePlan team on site who closely monitor and address the operational issues arising.
Liberty Promenade in particular has one of the highest trading volumes per m2 of food waste generated at a retail facility in the whole country. Before WastePlan came on board, this often resulted in high levels of contamination of recyclable materials, and was one of the main contributing factors to the historically low 40% waste diversion rate.
Here is how WastePlan enabled Liberty Promenade to achieve Net Zero Waste Level 2 Certification!
Initially the strategic objective set by the mall to achieve "Net Zero Waste to landfill in the immediate future, in accordance with the GBCSA’s requirements," provided clear direction for an effective working relationship. Both Liberty Promenade and WastePlan, as partners, shared an equal commitment to delivering these outcomes.. The WastePlan profit model encourages reducing landfill waste, fostering alignment between the client's goals and the service provider's objectives.
Key initiatives include: the implementation of comprehensive tenant education programs, expert support focused on the reduction of contamination at source (particularly to food tenants), optimisation of on-site recyclables separation facilities, and the introduction of composting systems for organic waste.
WastePlan also found solutions for problematic materials, such as partnering with local organisations to process non-recyclable plastics, as well as finding markets for products that were historically non-recyclable. In excess of 9 tons of non-recyclable plastic was diverted to a unique service provider who processed this material into an “eco-aggregate” for use in the production of concrete products.Another success factor was WastePlans’ specialised digital waste tracking system – which identifies and measures the various waste streams generated by individual waste generators. This enabled Liberty Promenade to implement a billing model for the recoupment of waste costs from tenants based on the basis of “user pays”. The tenants thereby have the ability to reduce their disposal costs through maximisation of material diverted to recycling, for which they earn a rebate, as well as minimising waste disposal costs for general waste.
The criteria stipulated by Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) for the certification process were fully complied with. These criteria included the measurement and reporting of all categories of materials sorted and collected from site, relevant manifests for the transportation of the respective materials, as well as the licences of all treatment facilities to which were diverted.
After starting on site in July 2021, WastePlan established sustained improvement in the diversion of waste from landfill, as illustrated by the graph below. Increasing the historically low diversion rate of 40% to a sustained 90% meant that 900 tonnes of the Promenade’s waste was diverted from landfill last year.
In March 2024, this culminated in the successful Net Zero Waste Level 2 Certification by GBCSA. What makes this achievement even more remarkable, is the fact that currently Liberty Promenade is one of only two recipients in South Africa of this certification – and both recipients are WastePlan clients.
“We are thrilled to achieve this significant milestone, which reflects our collaborative efforts with tenants and local partners, including WastePlan, who deserve recognition for the incredible contributions they made, with pioneering innovative solutions for waste management, that helped us reach this point,” said Brian Unsted, Asset Manager at Liberty 2 Degrees (L2D).
“This accomplishment not only showcases our commitment to sustainability, but also underscores our dedication to driving positive change within the communities served by our retail properties,” he added.
Georgina Smit, Head of Technical at GBCSA, commented: “Since our pilot projects in 2019, we have not yet seen any large development brave enough to take on this ambitious target. Hence we commend L2D for embarking on this remarkable journey and committing to a bold sustainability goal. With more industry leaders like this, we can transition South Africa’s waste trajectory, and move away from landfills towards a more circular economy.”
If you also have an unwavering commitment to environmental stewardship, and want to set new sustainability standards for your industry – contact us today!