Giving something back

SUEZ plants over 200 trees at Boz Park, Whitefield

SUEZ recycling and recovery UK (SUEZ) has joined up with The City of Trees to plant 240 trees at Boz Park in Whitefield, Bury.

A team of socially-distanced volunteers from SUEZ braved the cold in mid-December 2020 to plant over 200 sapling trees throughout the park off Oak Lane, Whitefield.

The planting is part of the new ‘Northern Forest’ initiative which will span over 120 miles from Liverpool to Hull. The ‘Northern Forest’ will accelerate the creation of new woodland and support sustainable management of existing woodland right across the north of England.

The team also took the opportunity to clean up the area and collected over 10 large bin bags of litter, including some rather unusual items such as a dolls pram and a pair of boots!

SUEZ was chosen in 2019 by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to operate their waste and resources contracts. As part of their contractual agreement, SUEZ made over 50 social value commitments including planting over 1,400 trees over the course of the contracts.

Anna Bell, Contract Director at SUEZ, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been able to plant these saplings at Boz Park. The team did a great job in really cold and blustery conditions. Tree planting is very much part of our social value commitment to Greater Manchester and will contribute towards creating a carbon neutral city-region.”

Eleanor Walker, City of Trees, said: “The SUEZ team did a great job planting trees and clearing litter from this well-used community asset. It’s crucial we continue to look after Greater Manchester’s green spaces for both wildlife and local people.”