Consumption and Production Team

Every day we all make choices that have an impact on the environment and the places where we live. From the way we travel, to what we buy and throw away and how we heat our homes.

You are here: Consumption and Production Team

The Challenge

Currently we produce way too much waste that causes damage to our environment. We pollute the air when we make things. We increase carbon and greenhouse gas emissions when we dispose of the things we no longer want. And we pollute our land and rivers when our rubbish ends up as litter. We want to build a Circular Economy in Greater Manchester and stop the cycle of making, buying, using, and throwing away. A place where we make products that last longer, can be repaired, reused, and shared, and every bit can be easily recycled. To have a positive effect in Greater Manchester we need to:

  • Stop producing so much waste. Instead of making, using and throwing away, we need to re-use, mend and design things that are better for our planet.
  • Cut pollutants that factories and industry produce. Industrial emissions need to fall by just over a third by 2025 and up to two thirds by 2040.
  • Recycle all we can. Making sure we are putting the right things in the right bin. By 2035 we need to be recycling 65% of what we throw away. Now we are recycling just 48%.

There are small changes we can all make too. If each one of us made a change it would make a big difference!

Greater Manchester’s Circular Mission

The Greater Manchester Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Plan covers 4 key priority areas:

  • Moving to a Circular Economy; Managing Waste Sustainably; Reducing Food Waste; and Sustainable Lifestyles

It provides the framework for Greater Manchester’s key activities over the next few years and will be delivered by public, private, third sector and academic partners, formed under the Greater Manchester Mission Based Approach.

Read the full plan

Take a look at some of our work in Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester Sustainable Textiles and Fashion Group

The Greater Manchester Sustainable Textiles and Fashion Group is dedicated to reducing the environmental footprint of textile and fashion consumption from the region. Its members include representatives from the manufacturing, retail, reprocessing and waste management sectors.

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Renew: Preloved items for you, your home and garden

We’ve opened a Renew Hub and three Renew shops in Greater Manchester. The Renew Hub in Greater Manchester is the UK’s newest and most unique reuse operation in terms of opportunity and scale. The shops sell pre-loved household items at an affordable price and are located at three of our recycling centres.

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PlasticFreeGM

PlasticFreeGM asks businesses, organisations and individuals to pledge to take action to reduce avoidable single use plastics across Greater Manchester. By making better choices about the products we use, the way we work, and the way we live our live, we can all make a positive change to our city-region.

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Buy Eat Keep Repeat

Over a ¼ of waste in the general rubbish bin at home is food. Keeping food out of the bin is not only better for the planet but it’s better for your pocket too. The ‘Buy, Keep, Eat, Repeat’ campaign offers simple tips to help everyone plan their meals better, store food correctly, use up leftovers and recycle or compost any avoidable food waste.

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Refill Greater Manchester

Aiming to drastically reduce plastic pollution through single use plastic bottles, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Untied Utilities have joined forces with Refill Manchester to make free tap water accessible throughout the region.

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Good Food GM

The Good Food Greater Manchester partnership brings organisations together to help  our city-region strategically improve our food system. Together, we’re  tackling issues including procurement, food poverty, waste, environmental impacts, and diet-related illness.

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One bin to rule them all

Improving compliance with recycling by developing ‘One bin’ to hold all plastic items and improving recycling infrastructure to create more usable recycled plastics that can be fed back into a circular economy. The project is a consortium led by The University of Manchester.

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REDUCES

The REDUCES project funded by Interreg Europe aims to identify the best circular business models in six European cities and regions to guide Greater Manchester towards a circular city-region through activities related to Greater Manchester’s Sustainable, Consumption and Production (SCP) Plan.

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Recycle for Greater Manchester

Recycle for Greater Manchester (R4GM) works with local councils in Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford, to inspire and encourage the residents of Greater Manchester to manage their waste responsibly, helping residents to waste less and recycling right.

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View all news and events

Resources

Sustainable Consumption and Production Plan
View
Five Year Environment Plan
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Five Year Environment Plan Summary
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Take action…

To make a big change, we must all take small actions. Becoming greener and making an impact is easier than you might think. We have put together a range of blogs, articles, toolkits and checklists to help you make a start.

Explore resources

Although we set out with a simple mission to reduce plastic waste, we’ve quickly realised that it’s just one piece in the sustainability puzzle. One of the biggest, but most easily attainable actions we can achieve is to look at where our goods come from and reduce the carbon footprint needed to get a product from manufacturer to consumer. Many of the products we stock are made by local, independent manufactures, who provide us with a wide range of things from reusable face wipes, wax food wraps, face coverings, soap bars, plant pots, kitchen cloths/sponges and butty bags.

Carl from Lentils and Lather

Our aim is to start changing the habits of families in Greater Manchester by getting them to ‘borrow’ rather than ‘buy’ brand new toys. We’re making sure that toys can be reused again and again by children who need and want them – and they are not just sitting in a cupboard or under someone’s bed.

Kim from That Toy Thing

The best part of upcycling is that old furniture is often better made than the equivalent flat-packed furniture we get today and with a little bit of time, love and care, you can create a completely unique piece of furniture for your home that no one else will have. I also love that these pieces of furniture have a history of their own and through transforming and updating them we can breathe a new lease of life into them.

Hannah from Tread Softly

The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is providing a further boost to the ambitions of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership to create a thriving, inspirational and connected landscape. It supports the recovery of wildlife through habitat creation and improvement as well as community recovery through providing opportunities for local people to develop skills, knowledge and beneficial connections to their local natural environment.

Jo Kennedy, Coordinator of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership

The reason I signed up to the Green Homes Grant scheme was two-fold, selfishly the measures will add value to the properties and make them more valuable in the future. But more importantly it benefits the tenants, keeping them warmer and prevents problems like damp and condensation. Ultimately measures like external wall insulations should keep tenants happier and ensure they remain in the house for longer.

Neil, Rochdale property owner

We used to think we didn’t have enough time to shop on our local market because we were working; how wrong we were?  We discovered it is an amazing place to shop for plastic free. We swapped tea bags for tea leaves and coffee jars for beans which we buy from The Market Grounds on Ashton Market – well worth a visit as the homemade cakes are delicious. All the stall holders have been amazing, not one of them minds us taking our containers to be filled with meat from the butchers. We get our bread, cheese, fruit and veg from the market too.

Julie from Ashton-under-Lyne

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

Although becoming carbon neutral is important to our organisation, it’s a lot of work for a small team to put the measures into place. The Journey to Net Zero course has given me practical, step-by-step advice that has made it easy for me to lay the foundations for our organisation to be able to take action and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral.

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

The Business Growth Hub has given us focus and extra knowledge. They’ve helped us form the base to grow sustainably and work efficiently as a team while making us conscious of our environmental impact as a business.

 

Ollie Birchall, Founder of Nutri Bar

I’ve not really been a cyclist throughout my life, more of a runner to be honest. And certainly not commuted. But I just thought if I’m going to change, surely now is the moment to change. I’m feeling the personal benefits of doing it. You just feel better when you come into work. It clears your head. There are benefits of cutting congestion, cleaning up the air. Everyone benefits when people cycle.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester

We think our water fountain is INCREDIBLE, it’s the perfect place for people to ‘refill’ and help themselves to any of the free edibles we’ve got growing in Market Place. We’re so grateful to all the organisations that helped make this happen. Alongside the plastic free motion that was passed by council and helped us achieve our first Surfers Against Sewage objective and in turn our Plastic Free Community status, it shows real commitment in reducing plastic waste and supporting our community.

 

Pete Fillery, Plastic Free Rammy and Incredible Edible Ramsbottom

I guess I’ve always been what you would call a conscious consumer. I’ve always detested plastic bags, all of my skin care products at home are plastic-free, vegan, and sustainable. My toothbrush is made of bamboo, there’s no plastic anywhere in the house. Everything in the salon has to be vegan – that was the first rule for me. We started with one brand of haircare products that was vegan, organic, and Fairtrade, but the distributor in the UK was wrapping all of the deliveries in plastic, and it felt really needless, so we ditched them.

 

Rachael, Gronn eco-salon in Bury

Although becoming carbon neutral is important to our organisation, it’s a lot of work for a small team to put the measures into place. The Journey to Net Zero course has given me practical, step-by-step advice that has made it easy for me to lay the foundations for our organisation to be able to take action and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral.

 

Kat Mulhall, Victoria Baths Trust, Manchester

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