Environmental Management system

Highcross Leicester decided to make an environmental commitment and implement ISO14001 environmental management system, they system is independently audited and certified by LRQA.

What does the project do?

The project is designed to develop a management system for Highcross to manage its environmental impacts, the system registers key environmental aspects and puts into place operational procedures to minimize risk and ensure continual improvement.

The key aims of the EMS are:

- To significantly reduce our carbon footprint
- To maximize the efficiency of natural resources
- To prevent waste and increase recycling
- To prevent pollution and contamination wherever possible

How was it developed?

To implement this project and maintain the EMS Highcross employed an Environmental Co-ordinator for the centre to commit this resource purely to environmental improvement is an inspiring move forward for retail property management.

What is the project trying to address?

Implementing an environmental management system at a shopping centre of this size was originally attempting to address energy, water and waste costs. As the project developed the EMS has highlighted environmental issues previously undiscovered and also enabled the monitoring and measurement of our key engagement activities with the community. This meant the Environmental Co-ordinator could spend more time engaging with key community groups and providing value to Leicester’s residents.

Community Engagement

Highcross has recognised that if we want to become sustainable, engaging with the community we operate in is essential. 2011 has been a great year for Highcross and we have enjoyed the activities we have taken part in with the community. Some examples of our work is below:

Highcross has always worked closely with Leicester education business company (LEBC) and this year has been no exception, staff have visited schools to take part in planned activities such as ‘Guess my job’ and ‘Enterprise day’. Children from primary schools around the city have also been treated to a day at Highcross learning about our retailers and control room!

New ventures this year have seen environmental education projects taking place, we have worked with Soar Valley and Beaumont Leas High Schools on a GCSE geography project about sustainability. We have also been working with Leicester college on a design project to show our customers we care about the environment and also to showcase the excellent work being done on courses at Leicester College.

Charities remain an extremely important part of what we do at Highcross, our nominated charities for 2011 have been Groundworks Leicester and Leicestershire and Rainbows Children’s’ hospice. We do everything we can to support these charities including: inviting them into the centre to promote their activities and do collections, providing staff time to give them professional support when they need it, doing charity activities to raise money for the charities.

This is just a small example of the things we do, we also work with multi faith groups, our local authority, sustainable transport groups and many more. If you would like more information on this topic please get in touch by emailing: website@highcrossleicester.com