John Scott Health Centre Garden: Green Space and Plastic Reuse Supporting Health Benefits for Londoners

Since the beginning of Groundwork London, our expert team of landscape architects has worked closely with communities and partners across London to redevelop outdoor spaces and bring better opportunities for health support and wellbeing to Londoners. The John Scott Health Centre is one of those projects with a unique and exciting edge – its design incorporates reused plastic waste!

Groundwork London joined forces with Tesco, Veolia and NHS Partnerships Services to redesign the space at John Scott Health Centre with outdoor furniture made from recycled soft plastics for outdoor and social prescribing activities. The partnership came about with Veolia’s discovery of a process to transform soft plastic into hard furniture.

“NHS projects are my favourite and are really rewarding.” – Principal Landscape Architect Jane Everitt said.

Built from 155.500 individual soft plastics from bread bags to crisp packets and yoghurt tops donated by Tesco, plastic waste was transformed into seating and tables, trellising, and decking of sustainable 100% recycled plastic lumber, Smartawood™. This unique material was accredited by BBA with a 120-year life expectancy. It requires little maintenance that’s designed not to rot or rust, and its manufacturing process resulted in approximately 15.5 kg of CO2 savings!

The programme will see gardens created in community locations across the UK with furniture and equipment made entirely the reused soft plastic returned to store by Tesco customers. A bench alone uses more than 2,500 pieces of soft plastic to create.

At Groundwork London we strive to transform the lives of Londoners and the places where they live by being at the forefront of social and environmental regeneration in the capital for the last 30 years. Across our projects, we see the benefits that green space brings to communities to support their overall prospects through employment, community connection, health and wellbeing. The partnership powerhouse came together on the 18th of July with one goal in mind: to celebrate the launch of a sustainable design solution for future green spaces with people’s health and sense of community at the core.

 “This is a great example of innovative thinking to minimise plastic waste while improving much-needed open spaces in local communities. We’re proud to be playing our part in delivering this project and look forward to seeing the benefits it brings to communities and the environment.” – Graham Duxbury, Groundwork’s UK Chief Executive.

Alongside community projects and landscape projects designed to bring people closer to nature and each other, Groundwork London also delivers mental health support projects for young people like The Nest in Southwark, as well as a social prescribing programme in Hounslow. The team of Link Workers in the borough focuses on prevention and intervention, tackling issues such as loneliness, isolation, and stress from debt or housing problems, which can contribute to health issues. 

“We are proud to see the continuous development of our Social Prescribing programme. This collaboration highlights the potential of innovative partnerships to not only create vibrant spaces for public benefit but also to drive positive change in healthcare and environmental sustainability. And it’s particularly special that we are repurposing soft plastics instead of increasing waste.” – Dr. Min Rodriguez, Head of Social Impact at NHSPS

At Groundwork, we are passionate about creating a future where every neighbourhood is vibrant and green, every community is strong and able to shape its own destiny, and no one is held back by their background or circumstances. Each year we deliver hundreds of innovative projects across London, tackling the biggest issues facing our communities. With the support of our funders and partners across the public, private, and voluntary sectors, and within the communities themselves, we can create real and lasting, positive change. This partnership project with NHSPS, Veolia and Tesco proves that supporting people into better health can be achieved through creative collaboration in unexpected and innovative ways.

Discover other projects by our Landscape Architects here.