Cutting the use of plastic at Events

Reducing our use of plastic, particularly single use plastic, is a hot topic at the moment and we all know that there is a lot of waste created by events and exhibitions. Recycling has increased, but it’s probably best to stop the problem at the source. So, we’ve taken a look at a few things that can be changed to reduce our use of plastic at our events.

• Plan from Day One

Talk to all the stakeholders and clients to see what is important to them. Do they have a sustainability policy? If so this should be shared at the earliest possible stage of planning.

Think about what will be thrown away at the end of the event and try to find an alternative from the start.

• Venue finding

Ask the prospective venues questions about their use of plastic items and recycling policy and find solutions that are easy to implement. If you want a plastic-free event, then the best way to start is to find a venue and destination that matches your requirements. That’s far easier than introducing a new way of working to a venue that’s not set up for it.

• Name badges

There are lots of alternatives to the plastic badge holder. The simple solution is just to clip the badge straight on to the lanyard and it’s easier to reuse the lanyards at another event afterwards.

• Ban plastic water bottles and single use coffee cups

Ask your venue to provide alternatives. If there’s a goodie bag, how about putting a keep cup or reusable bottle in there for the event attendees to use. Lots of people have their own already and are happy to use them. They also carry water bottles, so water dispensers can be used, with ice and fruit, instead of bottles of water.

• Straws

Ir’s now quite unusual to be given a drink with a plastic straw. Lots of venues are now using paper straws, but consider if you need straws at all.

• Signage

Can the signage be re-used, or if not can it be recycled? Try not to laminate any paper, as this can’t be recycled.

• Conference bags and incentive items

Make sure they are environmentally friendly and of value or they will be discarded during the event.

• Recycling

The recycling bins need to be obvious and have clear labels of what can be recycled in which bin.

This week Excel has announced a ‘No Plastic’ campaign and all plastic straws have been removed by retailers in the central boulevard. They also offer a discount to customers who have a reusable cup. Permanent water fountains have been installed to provide free chilled water to visitors, exhibitors and organisers who bring a reusable container. They’ve also introduced new waste bins to enable visitors to sort their rubbish more easily.

Scandic Hotels decided to stop using plastic straws and cocktail sticks in all of its hotels and are working to remove all single-use disposable items made of plastic. They were using approximately 1.3 million straws and 120 000 cocktail sticks every year. The plastic lids for take away coffee mugs have been replaced with biodegradable ones. This group has provided toiletries in large dispensers for many years.

IHG has already removed plastic straws from around 1,000 hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa and they’ve announced that plastic straws will be removed from all hotels by the end of 2019, which is more than 5,400 hotels in nearly 100 countries. They are also are introducing bulk-size bathroom amenities to several hotel brands in the Americas, as part of broader efforts to reduce waste.