ITV and Coronation Street - Sustainability off and on screen
ITV has been involved in MAST for many years. It came to MediaCityUK, on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal in Salford in 2013, with offices for 750 of its staff and a state-of-the-art production centre for Coronation Street, its longest running show.
Reducing impacts and promoting sustainability on screen have been high on its agenda. This is helped by its location in MediaCityUK, the world’s first site to be awarded ‘sustainable community’ status by BREEAM, which means it gets local low carbon electricity and has access to a range of green travel infrastructure measures.
ITV - located at MediaCityUK in Salford
Carbon Literacy training for all staff
ITV-MediaCityUK ensures that all staff undertake Carbon Literacy training developed through Albert, the authority on environmental sustainability for film and TV. The aim of training is to ensure all staff have a good understanding of climate change, its impacts, and how they can make a difference both as ITV employees and as individuals.
Off screen
ITV’s Coronation Street team is dedicated to minimising the impact of producing the show. In addition to being supplied by MediaCityUK-generated low carbon electricity, the production centre’s Building Management System is run to maximise efficiency of the heating, cooling, and hot water systems. The use of disposal plastic bottles, plates and cutlery has been banned and recycling rates at the studios have reached over 90%.
Energy display at ITV’s Coronation Street production centre
On the production side, sets are painted using water-based paints. They are reused numerous times again. When no longer reuseable, wood is sent to be chipped and recycled. The wardrobe department uses second-hand clothes for costumes as far as possible and has regular sales to ensure clothes get another life. Costumes are laundered at low temperatures and line-dried on site.
Over the years MAST membership has helped shape many of the Coronation Street team’s environmental initiatives, providing a space to share knowledge, seek solutions, and gain impetus and inspiration from others.
“I love the community aspect of MAST – similar organisations with similar issues, coming together to problem solve, sharing their knowledge base and resources with one another.”
Lee Rayner, Senior Production Manager, Coronation Street
On screen
As Britain’s most popular soap, often attracting over seven million viewers per episode and airing six times a week, Coronation Street’s influence is massive. It has proved to be a great platform for ‘planet placement’ with characters frequently seen recycling, using bags for life and plugging in electric vehicles.
The show has also brought many green storylines to the screen, from Kirk and Beth’s recycled wedding to Roy’s search for locally produced food leading him to an allotment.
Lee Rayner, Senior Production Manager (far left) brings MAST and C-Change partners on a sustainability tour of the Coronation Street studios, March 2019
Looking forward ITV-MediaCityUK intends to maximise its reach by incorporating positive environmental storylines in its most popular shows. Working with BAFTA and Albert this initiative is designed to coincide with COP26, the global climate change negotiations taking place in 2021 in Glasgow.
