Wales Millennium Centre recognises the climate crisis and the urgency of environmental and social challenges, which mean that the requirement to act has never been stronger.

Environmental sustainability is of great importance to our organisation and is one of our strategic priorities. We’re already making progress with the UK’s first solar-powered stage. We’re aiming to be a net zero carbon organisation by 2035 by setting science-based targets to reduce our emissions.

“As an iconic building in the Welsh capital, it is important to us that we promote our sustainable credentials and demonstrate our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint... Employing a preventative approach to environmental concerns is imperative to Wales Millennium Centre, ensuring our ongoing commitment to creating a cleaner, greener outlook for the future generations of Wales.”

Mat Milsom, Chief Executive, Wales Millennium Centre

What we’re doing 

We’ve set net zero targets for our organisation in line with the One Wales: One Planet initiative.  

We aim to be:

• Net zero in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 

• Net zero in Scope 3 emissions by 2035*

How we will achieve it

We are currently working towards both the ISO14001 and Theatre Green Book standards, and are focusing on three key areas:

• Sustainable Productions
• Sustainable Operations
• Sustainable Buildings

Sustainable Productions

Our aim

We will work towards a net zero approach, using Theatre Green Book as a best practice toolkit. We aim to achieve the Base standard by the end of 2024, and by this time we will also have developed an achievable action plan towards the Intermediate standard for our own productions. We will work with other producers to encourage Green Book principles and practice for touring productions. This includes a shift to a net zero carbon approach to guide programming decisions from an operational point of view and ensure a significant proportion of our content focuses on one or more elements of sustainability.

What have we done so far?

• Our summer activities in 2023 had a climate theme
• We have started to assess the carbon footprint of our exhibitions
• We reuse our sets and support in the recycling of them where possible to avoid disposal
• We have worked alongside the National Theatre to co-produce Nye to the Green Book Base standard for public performances starting in May 2024

What are our next targets?

By 2025:

• 50% or more of our visual arts exhibitions or productions will focus on sustainability as a theme
• 50% of our in-house productions, events and projects will achieve the Green Book Base standard

Sustainable Operations

Our aim

We will put sustainability at the heart of decisions about how we operate and engage our employees, volunteers and visitors in a culture of sustainability through our programmes and activities.

What have we done so far?

• We reduce waste by using biodegradable containers and recycling kitchen food waste
• All our bar drinks are now served in reusable plastic cups that are also fully recyclable
• We've moved to serving drinks from cans where possible as they use less energy to recycle than glass
• We are removing single-use plastic soft drink bottles from our food and beverage offer by the end of 2024
• We have paired up with the food waste provider Too Good To Go to support the reduction in food waste at the end of every day
• 98% of our ticket sales are now digital, reducing our need for paper tickets
• We have engaged in a social partnership with a local security company based in Cardiff Bay to encourage employment within the community. Every member of the team walks to and from work

What are our next targets?

By the second quarter of 2025:

• We will have developed a sustainability e-learning module and added it to our MetaCompliance suite
• We are aiming to introduce new innovative recycling systems by the second quarter of 2024
• Sustainability will become part of our induction training
• There will be a 25% reduction in food waste from our commercial tenants and our own food outlets

By 2030:

• We aim to attain Plastic Free status

• All employees will have received sustainability training and we will have an annual refresher built in as part of the standard training package
• We will have an 80% recycling rate
• We will have worked with our commercial units and pop-ups to reduce single-use plastics and increase waste segregation

Sustainable Buildings 

Our aim

Working with our partners and suppliers, we will reduce the emissions from our building to zero as quickly as technology allows.

What have we done so far?

• We have installed 720 solar panels on our roof saving more than 50 tonnes of carbon a year, which equates to covering the cost of powering all our stage performances and heating and cooling our theatre each year
• We have replaced over 70% of older, inefficient lighting with LED over much of the site, with plans to continue changing remaining lights
• We have introduced a dosing system into our cleaning regime to eliminate the need for plastic bottles. Chemicals are delivered in sustainable packaging and mixed on site
• After 19 years with our current provider, we have changed waste suppliers to ensure that our waste to landfill targets are being met
• We have capped the temperature in all our meeting rooms and offices to make environmental and financial savings
• We have replaced our Building Management System, allowing us to have proactive control of energy
• We’re proud to support the Greener Cardiff District Heat Network to which we are due to connect in 2024
• We procure our electric and gas at better than market value and monitor our usage carefully throughout the year
• Any replacement equipment must have a better energy rating than the previous, meaning that we are constantly improving our energy usage
• We have recycled 70% of our furniture on completion of our new office spaces by changing tabletops and chair covers instead of replacing old furniture for new

What are our next targets?

By 2025:

• There will be a 20% reduction in carbon emissions from our building
• There will be a 20% reduction in our water usage
• Our top ten key suppliers will have carbon reduction targets in line with SBTi*

Our mission, vision and values

We're committed to conducting our business responsibly, to protect our employees, volunteers, the public and the environment.

We will strive to reduce our consumption (direct and indirect), and reuse materials as much as possible.

We won't use raw materials or dispose of waste unless we can do so in a safe and environmentally acceptable manner.

We’ll strive for continuous and recurring improvement in our environmental performance and achieve this through regular measuring, monitoring and reviewing.

We'll employ a preventative approach to environmental concerns.

We'll design and employ technologies and operating procedures, be prepared for emergencies and work to prevent or minimise releases into the air, land and water.

Our beliefs

Each employee will be asked to consider the sustainability of their activities when carrying out their tasks, and they will be encouraged to consider how they can contribute to our organisation’s journey towards sustainability in a creative way.

Meeting our environmental commitment is:

• An individual responsibility – behaviour consistent with this responsibility is a condition of employment.
• A management responsibility – doing this well is an important measure of managerial performance.

This policy statement has been developed and endorsed by our executive team and will be communicated to all employees at the time of their hire, at regular intervals (as deemed necessary) to remind them of the objectives, and whenever it is revised or updated. This policy is reviewed at regular intervals by the Environment Management Team through the management review process. These regular reviews evaluate the policy in relation to the nature, scale and environmental impacts of our operations and products.

This policy is available to the public and other interested parties upon request.

Signed

Mat Milsom (May 2024)

* SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V1.2 (sciencebasedtargets.org)