7 Victoria Centre retailers where you can do your bit for Global Recycling Day 2024

According to Government statistics on UK waste, recycling rates have increased dramatically from 14.5 percent in 2003 to 44.1 percent in 2023, with predictions suggesting this will continue to soar.

Yet, despite this encouraging change, consumers often face challenges with knowing what can be recycled and what can’t – particularly with beauty and cosmetics products, and clothing.

This Global Recycling Day, Victoria Centre is showcasing the services and schemes on offer at retailers throughout the centre that make it easier for shoppers to make conscious, eco-friendly choices – all while getting rewards and discounts.

Levi’s

The iconic denim retailer, situated on the lower mall, offers owners of Levi’s jeans the option of free length alterations, a jeans-to-shorts and repair service and customisation with patches or prints, making an old pair of jeans feel brand new.Alongside its Tailor Shop services, which uphold the ethos of ‘Repair. Reimagine. Recycle’, the Levi’s website also offers tips and advice for DIY upcycling.

River Island

The Take Back Scheme at River Island, also situated on the lower mall, allows shoppers to donate a minimum of three items of clothing from any brand, returning them to any store. Once the clothes have been received in-store, River Island’s team check each item to ensure they can be resold or recycled by its partner, Reskinned.To say thank you for giving pre-loved clothes a new home, shoppers at River Island will receive a £5 gift voucher per donation to redeem off a £40 shop.

White Rose

By only housing pre-loved items, White Rose has a distinct goal to reduce fast fashion’s impact on the environment, reducing waste and encouraging shoppers to repurpose clothing.

As well as any of its stores across the East Midlands, its Victoria Centre store, located on the upper mall, accepts donations of any item of clothing in-store or via home collection or, if further afield, through its postal donation service.

The Perfume Shop

Victoria Centre is home to the Perfume Shop’s very first multi-brand fragrance refill station, meaning customers can easily reuse and refill their existing perfume bottles, reducing waste while also saving money.

This station has been designed to meet increasing customer demand for environmentally-friendly options, with 71 percent of people more likely to buy a product if it is reusable.

Boots

The global cosmetics industry generates over 120 billion units of packaging every year, most of it not being recyclable, so retailers are having to find new ways to do what they can to reduce this.

Thanks to advances in technology, cosmetic giant Boots, launched its Recycle at Boots scheme where shoppers can bring five empty beauty, health, wellness and dental products – from any brand – to a Boots store in return for 500 Advantage Card Points.

So far, Boots has recycled over 1.5million items since launching the scheme back in September 2020.Participants can also track how many empties they bring back and see the positive impact they are having on the planet.

John Lewis & Partners

With approximately 30 percent of unwanted clothes ending up in UK landfill sites and only 14 percent of cosmetic packaging actually making it to a recycling plant, it is clear something needs to change. John Lewis & Partners, situated on the lower and upper mall, has a plan.

Any My John Lewis member can get rewarded for returning empty beauty items or pre-loved clothing to a John Lewis & Partners store as part of the retailer’s BeautyCycle and FashionCycle. Simply taking five or more clean, empty cosmetic products to any of its beauty counters, or five or more items of pre-loved clothing to its fashion counters, members can get £5 off when they spend £20 in-store.

Too Good To Go

As almost a third of all food produced for human consumption ends up as waste, schemes have been put in place for food retailers that offer shoppers the chance to bag leftover produce for free.

Too Good To Go is a national scheme where its app users can pick up unsold goods to stop it going to waste for brands including Costa Coffee, Ed’s Easy Diner, Tortilla, Krispy Kreme, Muffin Break and Chopstix – all which can be found at Victoria Centre.

Commenting on the wide range of recycling schemes on offer, Nigel Wheatley, centre director at Victoria Centre, said:

“As a large shopping centre, with lots of different retailers, we are always looking for ways we can reduce waste and make the running of the centre more sustainable. In 2023, we recycled a huge 266,553 tonnes of waste onsite, which is the equivalent of just over 38,000 male African elephants – and we’re committed to doing even more, with the help of our retailers.

“While we’re conscious about being more eco-friendly as a business, so too are our shoppers. That’s why we’re pleased to showcase all the ways in which our retailers are helping shoppers to think more carefully about where their empty cosmetics go, or how they can reimagine old or damaged clothing.

“This Global Recycling Day, we’re inviting the shoppers of Nottingham to think about the changes they can make in their lives to help create a greener planet.”

To find out more about Global Recycling Day, visit www.globalrecyclingday.com.

For more information on Victoria Centre, visit www.victoria-centre.com or Victoria Centre’s social media channels – Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok.