Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) continues to build on its sustainability credentials with a range of initiatives delivering great outcomes for the venue.
MCEC’s Chief Operating Officer, Leighton Wood said the venue strives to be leaders in sustainable business practice.
“At MCEC we are always working to find innovative ideas that provide better outcomes for our community, our customers and our environmental footprint.
“Over the years we have led the way with many sustainable initiatives.
“Take Melbourne Renewable Energy Project (MREP) for example. In 2018 we joined 13 other reputable Melbourne organisations to support the development of a wind farm in regional Victoria. This initiative enables us to offset the projected electricity use of our 20,000 square metre expansion space with renewable energy,” Mr Wood said.
Image Credit: Pacific Hydro Australia
Considerations such as waste minimisation are increasingly important to customers and event attendees.
“We have removed single use plastics from our retail outlets, eliminated bottled water in catering and are introducing fully biodegradable coffee cups and lids.
“This means every year we are diverting over 30,000 plastic straws, 235,000 plastic bottles and 800,000 coffee cups from landfill,” Mr Wood said.
MCEC’s partnership with OzHarvest saw the redistribution of 38,660 meals (12,886 kilograms of food) through their food rescue donation program in 2018.
Other 2018 sustainability achievements
- Reduced carbon emissions per square metre by 16 per cent against 2015 levels, and on track to achieve our target of a 30 per cent reduction by 2021.
- Diverted 67% of all waste from landfill using 15 waste streams.
- Replaced 580 lights in our exhibition bays with LED lighting, resulting in a 70% reduction in power usage in our bays and adding an average 10 years life to our globes.
- Recycled 65,000 Nespresso pods annually.
“We will continue to collaborate with our customers and industry partners to ensure MCEC remains a truly sustainable events destination,” Mr Wood added.
