Real Social Value: 'From Waste to Worth' with GMCA & SUEZ

We can't just keep filling holes in the ground with rubbish. We've got to fight back against this throwaway society.

Chris Kennedy, Project Manager at The Monastery

Waste to worth

When Greater Manchester Combined Authority weighted Social Value at 15% in Europe's largest waste contract, they created the conditions for economic, environmental, and social outcomes to work together rather than compete.

This film follows the story of the commissioners who designed the brief, the supplier who built something entirely without precedent in the UK, told through the eyes of the people living it every day.

SUEZ created the Renew Hub, where almost everything processed - bikes, furniture, electrical goods - goes back into the community at prices that make a genuine difference to families managing the cost of living. The repair cafes funded through the contract's community fund do the same at a neighbourhood level, putting skills in people's hands alongside the repaired items they take home.

This is just part of SUEZ’s 54-commitment Social Value programme, spanning apprenticeships, skills development, carbon reduction, and more. These commitments are reviewed and updated over the life of the contract - because what communities need in 2026 isn't the same as what they needed in 2019.

If we were asked by another authority about the value of Social Value, it would be an absolute yes. You should do it and you should go for the maximum wherever you can.

David Taylor, Executive Director of Waste at GMCA

💡 Want to see more inspiring stories of Social Value? Check out our success stories.