Closing the Loop
We recognise that modern cities are responsible for creating a great deal of waste and pollution and using a massive amount of resources. As a micro-city, we are perfectly placed to break that mould to create a city that is truly circular, cutting out waste and keeping materials in use as long as possible. Closing the loop on resources will allow us to grow sustainably, while lowering the environmental impacts of our activities.
Building on what we learned from Breaking the Plastic Habit, we will be developing a long-term circularity strategy across the Group. This strategy will be developed to advance circularity within the Canary Wharf community, and we will engage with key stakeholders such as tenants, suppliers, employees and residents to develop a strategy that benefits everyone.
Circularity on Wood Wharf
In October 2019, Canary Wharf Contractors provided waste plastic from their construction sites to a sustainable events company, who then turned the material into a sustainable display for Canary Wharf tenant Refinitiv, who were exhibiting at the One Young World event in London…
In October 2019, Canary Wharf Contractors provided waste plastic from their construction sites to a sustainable events company, who then turned the material into a sustainable display for Canary Wharf tenant Refinitiv, who were exhibiting at the One Young World event in London. CWC also began participating in the Protec Closed Loop Re-manufacturing Scheme in 2019, supporting our ambition to become a world-leading circular economy by 2030. The first batch saw 2,250kg of polypropylene sheeting, which would have otherwise been discarded, sent to be recycled. The Scheme allows contractors to recycle temporary plastic sheeting waste, which is then returned to the manufacturer to be made into new materials. This closed loop system preserves valuable resources, eliminates the need to send waste to landfill, and ensures a sustainable supply of materials.
Sustainable Design
Sustainable buildings start with great design. We design all of our projects to have sustainability built in, starting with healthy materials. In 2019 we rolled out new materials briefs for all our projects, incorporating circular economy principles to ensure that our developments achieve the highest possible level of resource efficiency. We have also developed our own bespoke wellbeing standard, in line with WELL principles, to improve the health, wellbeing and productivity of the people who live and work in our developments.
We recently completed our newest commercial office, 1&5 Bank Street, which achieved BREEAM Outstanding, making it one of the largest BREEAM Outstanding buildings in the world.
Four
commercial projects BREEAM certified in 2019
116
residential units delivered to Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes
Designing for Communities
Our approach to placemaking is to create vibrant community spaces where people can live, work and relax. By embracing nature and biodiversity, and designing to meet the needs of the future, we are creating communities that promote wellbeing for everyone who visits them.
In 2019 we submitted the world’s first BREEAM Communities Step 1 assessment, on track to receive an Outstanding rating for our Wood Wharf development. We are now in the planning stages for our next mixed-use scheme, North Quay, which will be our first net zero carbon master plan.
Waste Management
We work collaboratively with our tenants to reduce waste across the Canary Wharf estate. Every piece of waste disposed of at Canary Wharf is identified, segregated and sent for processing accordingly. Since 2009, we have been Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWTL) certified across our managed areas, and we are working towards becoming ZWTL on our construction projects by 2025.
In 2018 we opened Wharf Kitchen, London’s first plastic-free food court, by creating a waste stream for compostable materials. Since then, we have been working with commercial tenants to establish a larger compostable waste stream across the Estate, which allows tenants to replace single-use plastics with compostable alternatives such as Vegware. We already have tenants participating and are looking to add more in 2020.
Across Canary Wharf Group we generated 105,474 tonnes of waste in 2019, an increase of 74.5% compared to 2018. The level of waste in managed areas has increased slightly in 2019 (1.5%) due to an increase in the size of the portfolio. The main increase in waste generated is due to over 70,000 tonnes of excavation waste being generated, predominantly at our Wood Wharf site (86% reused and 99.99% diverted from landfill).