This week marks Sydney’s only annual recycling industry event, the Australasian Waste & Recycling Expo (AWRE), taking place at the International Convention Centre. In an ambitious move, the AWRE is aiming to send just 5% of all event waste to landfill. Waste produced by the show will be either avoided, recycled or re-used, minimising the amount sent to landfill and maximising the various opportunities to repurpose items.
To reach the ambitious target, the AWRE has enacted five core initiatives: Reduce single-use plastics. Use recycled materials. Reduce energy and consumption. Repurpose and recover used materials. Separate waste at the source. The event industry is notorious for generating huge amounts of waste due to the tendency to use a high volume of disposable materials. The AWRE is striving to lead a behavioural shift within the industry by setting an example for others to follow. Research from the NSW EPA shows around 87% of people want events they attend to be clean and free of litter while also supporting waste wise practices and well-organised waste and recycling services. The long-term strategy of the project is to increase the participation of event partners to minimise the event’s carbon footprint year-on-year, ensuring the AWRE is close to zero waste by 2020. Planet Ark CEO Paul Klymenko will be part of a discussion group at the event led by Australian Packaging Covenant CEO, Brooke Donnelly on the opportunity to drive positive movements towards sustainability through collaborative approaches. The panel will discuss the importance of cooperation between business, government and civil society to achieve tangible outcomes.
Positive Action If you are an event organiser, strive to reduce the amount of waste being produced by your event. There are resources that can help available at RecyclingNearYou.com.au and BusinessRecycling.com.au.
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Positive Environment News has been compiled using publicly available information. Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.