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5th December
The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre’s commitment to creating a greener exhibition industry has earned it the Exhibition and Events Association of Australia’s inaugural Best Green Initiative Award.
The accolade, presented at the EEAA’s Annual Awards for Excellence this week, recognises the continued success of the Centre’s Ecowise program and its ongoing focus on working with clients to raise environmental standards.
In its award submission, the Centre highlighted its achievements in waste reduction and recycling, water and energy savings and industry education during the past year, as well as initiatives such as its Green Event Ideas planning brochure, launched for clients in late 2007.
The Centre also demonstrated how it puts its environmental programs into practice by showcasing its work with Diversified Exhibitions Australia on the 2008 Good Food and Wine Show. Despite the record number of attendees at the show, the Centre managed to recycle more than 80 per cent of the waste produced during the three-day event.
Centre Chief Executive Ton van Amerongen said the venue was very proud to have won the EEAA green award in its inaugural year.
Mr van Amerongen acknowledged the role of the Centre’s Operation Supports Manager Rohit Maini in driving the Ecowise campaign and overseeing the Good Food and Wine Show’s successful recycling program.
“Ecowise was launched over four years ago and every year it expands to encompass more areas and achieve even greater results in reducing the impact of events on the environment and serves as a benchmark in the industry,” Mr van Amerongen said.
“Over the past two years we have succeeded in increasing resource recovery rates in our Exhibition Centre from 11 per cent to 41 per cent, while the last year alone has seen a 21 per cent reduction in water consumption due to the installation of touch sensor taps, water-saving showerheads and waterless urinals.
“We are delighted to have our role in this area recognised by our industry peers and we look forward to continuing to work with the exhibition industry to achieve greater results over the years ahead.”
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