The Supply Chain – Sustainability Saboteur or Supporter?

There is a collective responsibility across the events sector to play a part in implementing sustainable practices if we are to meet government targets. This applies to organisers, venues, suppliers and exhibitors.

We’ve been talking for years about reducing, reusing and recycling to lessen our carbon footprint and minimise waste. But true sustainability goes much further than that.

In an ideal world, what it should be in the events industry is a unified system with a robust framework born out of collective discussion.

What it can’t be is simply the blanket removal and banning of certain items. Neither can we hide behind reuse and recycle - we must all look at better alternatives.

But when faced with such an overwhelming topic, it can be hard to know where to start and easy to see others as a bigger part of the problem. The ‘others’ in this case often includes the supply chain who some view as the ‘problem child’ rather than part of the overall solution.

It can be damaging to single out certain parts of the events industry as the main problem as no one single area is the reason preventing us from achieving sustainable goals in our industry. The truth is that many areas of the supply chain have been working on sustainable solutions for years - some even for decades - and are frequently the trailblazers in this area, not the latecomers.

This session will discuss:

• Pitfalls of playing the blame game
• Dispelling the myths – a closer look at the so-called ‘problem children’
• Why blanket banning is not the answer
• Why we can’t rely on reuse and recycle
• The importance of a unified system
• Accreditation and training