St. Enoch Centre

Industry: Retail & leisure destination   

About the organisation:   

Opened in 1989, St. Enoch Centre was the city's first shopping centre. With over 70 stores and Scotland's busiest food court, St. Enoch attracts more than 16 million visitors per year.   

Today it continues to meet evolving shopper demands with a recently completed £40 million mixed use development with over 140,000 sq ft of new leisure, F&B and retail due to open in 2021.  

 Key sustainability highlights at St. Enoch Centre   

• St. Enoch was the first shopping centre in Scotland to become 100% waste to landfill free in 2011 and continues to send zero waste to landfill.   

• In 2021, a new waste management process in the food court has achieved a -50% reduction in cardboard, plastic and food waste being sent to general waste. This project was just awarded an International Green Apple Environment Award 2021.   
• Demolition phase of the redevelopment achieved an impressive recycling rate of 99.9% - placing the project considerably ahead of the EU target of 70% by 2020.   
• The centre has implemented several circular economy projects in collaboration with its retailers. 
• The centre is committed to supporting local and sustainable businesses as part of its retail offer.  

 In detail  

 Setting targets  

In 2006, St. Enoch Centre started its sustainability journey, setting out to become 100% waste to landfill free within a five year period and successfully achieved this at the start of 2011.  The centre was also awarded the Carbon Trust Standard after reducing its carbon emissions by more than 500 tones between 2007 and 2010. St. Enoch launched the city’s first electric charging bays allowing drivers of electric vehicles to recharge for free while visiting the mall. These parking bays offer a convenient service for visitors whilst also helping to raise awareness of greener forms of transport. 

Creating circularity within a shopping centre 

In 2018, St. Enoch Centre began working with Circular Glasgow, an initiative of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, to explore how it could implement circular economy solutions throughout the centre. The results of a workshop with some of its retailers included: 

The coffee initiative: Waste coffee grounds from a number of the centre’s retailers were collected and mixed with compost to be used throughout the centre’s plants. 

The pram project: The workshop identified abandoned prams as a waste issue for the centre. Working with the city’s Repair Café, St. Enoch Centre refurbished and restored these prams into good working condition before donating them to disadvantaged families across Glasgow.  

Supporting local and sustainable business  

St. Enoch Centre has been committed to supporting local and sustainable businesses as part of its retail offer. Between 2019 and 2021, the centre was home to Apparel Xchange, a social enterprise dedicated to the reuse of clothing, footwear and accessories for young people. Most recently, the centre has welcomed The Clyde side Collective, a new ethical shopping experience which brings together local artists, makers, and crafters, who each share a passion to reuse, recycle, reclaim, and resell items that may otherwise have been destined for landfill.   

Learn more  

Visit the St. Enoch Centre website here  

Want to learn more about how our Glasgow Chamber members are committing to positive climate action? Visit our Instagram page for our daily #sustainabilitystories.