At The Met, we believe that cultural excellence and environmental responsibility go hand in hand. As a leading cultural institution in the heart of Bury, we bring music, theatre, and education to our community while recognizing our responsibility to protect the planet we all share.

Why Sustainability Matters to Us

The arts industry, by its nature, uses significant resources—from the energy that powers our performances to the materials used in our productions. But we’re committed to changing this.

As thousands of people pass through our doors each year, we have a unique opportunity not just to reduce our own environmental impact, but to inspire positive change in others. That’s why we’re taking meaningful action now, in recognition of the climate emergency we all face.

Our Environmental Commitments

We’re approaching sustainability with the same creativity and dedication we bring to our artistic programming. Our key commitments include:

  • Improving energy efficiency throughout our historic building
  • Work with Bury Council to secure renewable energy
  • Reducing our consumption of resources across all operations
  • Approach waste disposal with the following ethos: prevent, reuse, recycle, recover, dispose
  • Tracking our environmental impact through annual reporting
  • Encouraging sustainable transportation for staff, volunteers, and visitors
  • Setting reduction targets for our consumption and waste

Our Sustainable Action Plan

In 2023, we developed a comprehensive Sustainability Action Plan guided by the Theatre Green Book’s standards. This plan puts us on track to reduce our consumption from our baseline reading and will create a foundation for continued success.

Our current objectives include:

  • Establishing our 2015 baseline to measure our progress toward 50% emissions reduction
  • Selecting suppliers and partners based on sustainability credentials and locality
  • Improving our visibility on sustainability issues through dedicated website content and in-venue information
  • Incorporating sustainability objectives into all contracts
  • Continuing our partnership with Julie’s Bicycle to report on our environmental impact
  • Regular reporting to our board on our environmental progress
  • Establishing an environmental subgroup with partners from across Bury
  • Developing a sustainable travel policy for customers and staff
  • Collecting audience data to inform our future environmental strategy
  • Providing carbon literacy training for all staff, contractors, and tenants

The Challenge of Our Historic Home

The Met is housed in Derby Hall, a Grade II listed building constructed in the 1840s. Over the past four decades, we’ve welcomed over 1.5 million people through our doors to see legendary performers like Joy Division, Slow Readers Club, Peter Kay, and Steve Coogan.

While our historic building presents unique challenges for sustainability improvements, we’re approaching these challenges with creativity and determination. We’re focusing on making our building:

LEAN – Assessing and reducing our energy and water usage wherever possible

CLEAN – Replacing inefficient systems with more energy-efficient alternatives

GREEN – Working toward renewable energy and incorporating nature-based solutions where possible

Everyone Has a Role to Play

Sustainability at The Met isn’t just about building improvements—it’s about changing how we all work. Our approach follows three key principles:

REDUCE how much we use – From energy to water to materials, we’re looking at ways to use less

SOURCE sustainably – Everything we purchase has an environmental impact, and we’re committed to making better choices

REUSE and RECYCLE – We’re finding creative ways to extend the life of items and ensure proper recycling

Join Us on This Journey

As we align with Greater Manchester’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2038, we recognize that meaningful change requires everyone’s participation. We’ll be tracking our progress through energy consumption, water usage, materials, engagement metrics, and travel data.

We believe that while the arts industry has an environmental impact, it can also be part of the solution. Through storytelling, cultural influence, and community engagement, we can inspire the change we need to see.

We’re also working with Julie’s Bicycle on their Capital Readiness Programme. More information on this can be found here.

Stay tuned for updates on our sustainability journey, and thank you for being part of our commitment to a brighter, more sustainable future.