Balfour Beatty – The Krizevac Project
Read More about Balfour Beatty – The Krizevac ProjectMcDonald’s Lymm & YMCA Together
In 0 Reconomy was awarded sol supplier status
In 2022, Reconomy Connect was awarded sole supplier status on the framework for McDonald’s ‘reimaging store refurbishment works programme’
Saved 0 tonnes of CO2e
Diverting materials from landfill and preventing them from being wasted saved 0.4 tonnes of CO2e
Generated £0 of social value
Reuse within a community-focused initiative has generated £5,500 of social value
Reusing restaurant furniture for community benefit
Reconomy Connect, a Reconomy specialist brand, brokered the reuse of surplus furniture from a newly refurbished McDonald’s restaurant, donating it to YMCA Together in Liverpool rather than sending it to waste.
By identifying a reuse opportunity within McDonald’s refurbishment programme and connecting it to a third-sector partner, Reconomy Connect prevented usable resources from being wasted and created a community-focused initiative with significant potential to scale nationally.
- Problem: A refurbishment of the McDonald’s Lymm restaurant left commercial-grade furniture surplus to requirements, which would ordinarily have become a waste stream, with possible cost implications under new POPs legislation.
- Solution: As sole supplier on McDonald’s refurbishment framework, Reconomy Connect identified a reuse opportunity and, after engaging local third-sector organisations, arranged for the furniture to be donated to YMCA Together in Liverpool.
- Result: £5,500 of social value generated, 0.4 tonnes of CO2e saved by diverting materials from landfill, and a scalable model with national potential across McDonald’s 1,400+ UK and Ireland restaurants.
Key results
- Sole supplier status: in 2022, Reconomy Connect was awarded sole supplier status on the framework for McDonald’s “reimagining store refurbishment works programme”.
- Saved 0.4 tonnes of CO2e: diverting materials from landfill and preventing them from being wasted saved 0.4 tonnes of CO2e.
- Generated £5,500 of social value: reuse within a community-focused initiative generated £5,500 of social value.
About the partnership
A partnership between Reconomy Connect, McDonald’s, Murray & Willis, and YMCA Together’s Liverpool branch has facilitated the reuse of restaurant furniture from a newly refurbished McDonald’s restaurant, located at Poplar 2000 services in Lymm, Warrington. In doing so, it has prevented these resources from being wasted and created a reuse opportunity that benefits both the community and the wider environment.
In 2022, Reconomy Connect was awarded sole supplier status on the framework for McDonald’s “reimagining store refurbishment works programme”. Within this role, Reconomy Connect was tasked with supporting all ten existing contractors responsible for overseeing restaurant refurbishments to deliver increasingly sustainable environmental excellence.
This meant identifying more sustainable, circular solutions to minimise the waste generated by each restaurant refurbishment, along with exploring all possible opportunities for the reuse or recycling of materials, underpinned by detailed and accurate waste and resource management information delivered via the market-leading Reconomy Portal.
Identifying the opportunity
As part of the ongoing refurbishment works, Reconomy Connect identified a significant reuse opportunity for surplus-to-requirements furniture from the McDonald’s Lymm restaurant, owned by franchisee Jayne Aspin-Mayne. The items included stools, chairs, benches, tables, sofas, and even the restaurant’s recycling stations.
Following a period of engagement with nearby third-sector organisations, an agreement was reached to donate the furniture to the Liverpool branch of YMCA Together, effectively removing it as a waste stream while creating a social value initiative with significant expansion potential.
The benefits
The more sustainable management of this furniture has realised several social, environmental, and commercial benefits:
- Reuse within a community-focused initiative generated £5,500 of social value.
- Diverting these materials from landfill and preventing them from being wasted saved 0.4 tonnes of CO2e.
- It has potentially helped prevent increased costs associated with new POPs legislation, which could impact all 1,400+ McDonald’s restaurants in the UK and Ireland.
One of the most exciting things about this project is its scalability and potential to add significant value at a national level. Preventing McDonald’s commercial-grade restaurant furniture from becoming general waste demonstrates a nationally coordinated social, environmental, and commercial proposition, with McDonald’s franchisees, contractors, and third-sector partners all working closely together to deliver sustainable outcomes.
Testimonials
We are thrilled to have completed our conversion, and even more delighted to have found a sustainable solution for our old furniture and décor items. Donating to charities such as the YMCA has been made all the easier through our partnership with Reconomy Connect, and aligns with our commitment to reducing waste.
McDonald's Lymm
Testimonials
The ability to receive the furniture and repurpose money into other work that we do with the local community has been amazing.
YMCA Together
About Reconomy Connect
Reconomy Connect is a Reconomy specialist brand that helps businesses treat waste as a resource. By combining waste and resource management expertise with an extensive partner network and the market-leading Reconomy Portal, Reconomy Connect finds circular, reuse-led solutions that minimise waste, generate social value, and support clients’ sustainability and compliance goals.
From national refurbishment programmes to local community initiatives, Reconomy Connect helps clients move materials up the waste hierarchy and deliver coordinated social, environmental, and commercial value at scale.
Visit Reconomy Connect
About McDonald's
McDonald’s is one of the world’s best-known restaurant brands, with more than 1,400 restaurants across the UK and Ireland. As it continues to reimagine and refurbish its restaurants, the business places growing importance on sustainability, waste reduction, and circular approaches to managing materials.
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