• The Mall continues to set new benchmarks in Bahrain’s retail sector for applying international sustainability best practices
  • Investments in sustainability initiatives since 2018, resulting in reduced energy consumption by more than 17%, water consumption by 23% and improved waste management by approximately 35%

Manama, Bahrain: City Centre Bahrain, the premier shopping, entertainment, and lifestyle destination in the Kingdom, owned and operated by Majid Al Futtaim, continues to demonstrate its increased efforts to build on its net positive carbon and water targets. Investing in best sustainable practices since the start of its operations in 2008, City Centre Bahrain has been working towards significantly reducing the company’s water consumption and carbon emissions to put more back into the environment than it takes out. This is in line with the Kingdom’s commitment to cut emissions by 30 percent by 2035.

The Mall’s sustainability initiatives are part of Majid Al Futtaim’s overall community-centric sustainability strategy, and tie into the company’s commitment to becoming Net Positive in carbon and water by 2040.

Rethinking its resources to address its use of resources for a Net Positive impact has been the core focus of City Centre Bahrain’s sustainability plans. These initiatives range from community-centric to infrastructural enhancements of mall’s assets. From introducing a recycling program by setting up 85 recycling bins at the mall to encourage environmentally friendly behavior among mall visitors, to switching to 15,746 LED light bulbs to installation of a RO water plant and investment in solar panels to use sunlight as a source of energy to generate direct current electricity of 4.7 megawatt. All efforts are being undertaken to improve the Mall’s overall energy efficiency and sustainability.

Through these initiatives, City Centre Bahrain resulted in reducing its energy consumption by 17% and water consumption by 23%. The Mall has also improved its waste management by approximately 35%.

Duaij Al Rumaihi, Mall Director at City Centre Bahrain, said: “At City Centre Bahrain, we continue to scale up our sustainability initiatives by exploring new opportunities and innovative solutions to make a Net Positive impact on the local community while playing a leadership role in accelerating action within the retail sector. Putting in place best practices and environmentally friendly behaviours allows us to collaborate with our retailers and partners to make significant strides in our sustainability drive while encouraging our mall visitors and the broader community to adopt an eco-conscious attitude.”

City Centre Bahrain has also been engaging its retailers and tenants to reduce energy, waste, and water use to make their daily operations 'greener' while offering sustainable products. This is based on the mall's 'Big Vote' customer campaign that reveals City Centre Bahrain visitors support brands that engage in eco-friendly initiatives such as vegan menus, upcycled fashion, use sustainable material, and give back to the community.

The Mall continues to introduce initiatives that could be effective in influencing consumer behaviour and empowering them to make more sustainable choices. The mall’s recycling video focusing on its recycling and reusable energy commitment garnered a reach of 12,176 while its Earth Hour social media awareness campaign to commemorate World Environment Day attracted a wide-spread online reach of 9,797 with over 7,600 impressions.

Amongst the mall’s consumer-facing eco-friendly initiatives, more than 5000 customers last year during the mall’s Winter campaign taking a voluntary pledge on recycled paper. 65 customers participated in a sustainable fashion workshop organized by the mall in collaboration with the Fashion designer Maha Al Qassab, and to learn more about turning t-shirts into tote bags in the workshop conducted by the Royal University for Women students.