Sustainability
Sustainability at Raglan Garden Centre
At Raglan, we are proud of the steps we are under taking to become more environmentally conscientious and sustainable. We have introduced a green policy and we are actively reducing our impact on the environment through mindful product sourcing, efficient waste management, and lowering our carbon footprint across all areas of the business.
Sustainability is a shared responsibility at Raglan Garden Centre. Every decision we make is guided by environmental awareness, and our staff are ambassadors for the natural world. We provide eco-friendly gardening solutions to our customers and actively support our local community in their efforts to improve our environment.
Becoming Energy Sufficient
We have installed our first solar panels, marking a significant step in our sustainability journey. With 300 panels now in place, we are generating an average of 90,000 kW per year—covering about a third of our electricity consumption. The environmental benefits are already clear, with a reduction in carbon emissions of 735 KG in the first 30 days—equivalent to planting 45 trees.
Peat Free
We made a big pledge, all our composts are now peat free as of 2024.
Gardening should be enjoyable and rewarding. We aim to offer the best possible products to achieve success in our garden, but we need to be aware of the long-term effects on the environment and consciously apply a balance to successful gardening with minimal harm. Peat based composts offer a proven growing medium but are known to be damaging to the environment through habitat reduction and carbon release. Peat free composts stocked at Raglan are taken from natural wood fibre, sourced from managed forests in accordance with the FSC scheme, green waste
Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle.
At Raglan Garden Centre, waste is not an end product, it’s an opportunity to reuse, repurpose, and recycle. We compact plastics and paper for recycling and work with a trusted, audited waste management company to ensure our recycling and general waste are disposed of in the most environmentally friendly way possible.
We encourage our customers to reduce their own waste, providing a dedicated recycling point in our car park for garden pots. Customers can return their unwanted taupe pots and trays, ensuring they are properly recycled.
- Cardboard
Onsite no cardboard box will find its way into landfill rather to our payments desks where customers are encouraged to use boxes for their goods. Any remaining cardboard is bailed onsite for onward recycling. We set the target of recycling or repurposing 95% of all cardboard on site by 2023. We have exceeded this and have now aim for 100%.
- Glass
We recycle all bottles, jars and broken glassware, our glass recycling forecast for 2025 is an impressive 6,000 litres
- Food Waste
Since 2023, we are proud to be sending all food waste to an anaerobic digestion plant. This plant will allow us to convert food waste into renewable energy and organic fertiliser. So not only are we reducing our carbon footprint, we are feeding your future purchases with the best fuel for growth.
- Cooking Oil
We run a busy, high footfall, restaurant that produces a significant amount of waste oil. Recently, we introduced a collection of this waste by the oil recovery team who then recycle it into bio based diesel. Bio based diesel is seen as a viable climate change initiative as it’s low cost, low carbon with a high greenhouse gas reducing impact. We are delighted that our recycling can help reduce carbon emissions.
Sourcing
We are only as good as the products we sell. Where we can, we source locally, whether it be plants, foodstuff or furniture. In fact, 80% of our plants are grown in the UK, from trusted suppliers with environmentally sound businesses. In our foodhall, we prioritise local suppliers to reduce food miles and we believe that there are some wonderful small brands in the area that welcome our support. When sourcing garden furniture, we look for suppliers who use sustainable materials like wood or community plastics and when purchasing for our Christmas displays we avoid buying plastic, searching for glass, wood and resin ornaments for our seasonal offering.
When we refurbished the Sugarloaf Restaurant in 2020 we sourced chairs made from recycled fishing nets and we now offer these chairs for sale. This conscious purchasing is not limited to these areas but is across the buying board. We constantly seek to source quality sustainable products with longevity.
Keeping the food we serve local, fresh & sustainable
Meet Our Suppliers
- Milk & eggs – Raglan Dairy – sourced just down the road from cows and chickens living happily nearby.
- Meat – Farmers Pantry Butchers, Llantwit Major – ethically farmed and sustainably reared.
- Fresh fruit & veg – Alex Jones, Goytre – a family-run wholesaler supplying the best local produce.
- Handmade cakes from Nos Da Bakery, Bettws – using locally sourced ingredients and delivered in reduced packaging.
- Coffee beans from James Gourmet Coffee, Ross-on-Wye – high-quality beans, ground fresh on site.
- Chilled, ambient & sundries from Castell Howell, Llanelli – committed to supplying regional produce.
By choosing local, we’re not only providing our customers with the freshest, tastiest ingredients, but we’re also cutting food miles and supporting ethical farming. Delicious, sustainable, and local – all year long!
Packaging
Seeking to reduce plastic waste is integral to our business and influences our purchasing decisions. No plastic bags, no plastic straws, no single use plastic, where possible. For transparency we would like to be single use plastic free but until some elements of gardening products can be made using biodegradable materials we are beholden to some plastic products.
We purchase products where possible on Blue CHEP pallets which are returned to resupply the pallet network and reduce the need for reproduction
Carbon Footprint
Reducing the centre’s carbon footprint has been a priority since the Davies family took back over the business in 2019. We carefully manage our energy use and output with LED lighting throughout the centre, pre-set clocks thermostatically controlling our heat, automatically closing doors and energy efficient electrical goods.
Our ‘Raglan to the Door’ delivery van operates on a ‘fully laden’ basis through forward panning and the support of our local customers.