- Özgür Töre
International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) received the prestigious Silver Certification by EarthCheck – the world’s leading environmental certification and benchmarking program for the travel and tourism industry.
The Silver Certification recognises ICC Sydney’s commitment to driving positive environmental outcomes through its sustainability initiatives. Benchmarked against the sector, EarthCheck places the venue above best practice for energy consumption, water consumption, emissions and waste.
The certification is the latest endorsement of the venue’s sustainability achievements. In June this year ICC Sydney’s waste reduction program won the UFI Sustainable Development Award 2020. Aligned with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible Production and Consumption, the venue’s refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle and recover waste methodology resulted in a 58% landfill diversion rate in 2019-20.
To target single-use plastics, ICC Sydney also became a signatory to City of Sydney’s Single-Use Pledge and in 2018 the venue joined the ‘Sydney Doesn’t Suck’ campaign. The combined effort has removed 520,000 individually wrapped mints from meeting rooms each year, prevented 88,000 straws from entering landfill annually and coffee cup lids have been replaced by an opt-in system at kiosks, which saw a 93% reduction in coffee cup lid purchases.
ICC Sydney’s CEO, Geoff Donaghy, said the certification recognises the venue’s commitment to operating in a socially and environmentally sound manner.
“ICC Sydney is proud to have achieved the EarthCheck Silver Certification. As the recognised global benchmark for standards in sustainable travel and tourism, this is an important endorsement of our efforts to drive best performance across energy consumption, water use, GHC emissions and waste.
“Sustainability is a key priority for ICC Sydney and embedded across our organisation. We have implemented rigorous KPIs and work hand in hand with our clients, suppliers and wider communities to track the impact of events and ensure these leave a positive legacy.”
ICC Sydney’s Corporate Social Responsibility Executive, Katie Boone, said the certification is the culmination of years of proactive investment and property management at ICC Sydney.
“To reach EarthCheck’s standard, which adheres to the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, we’ve integrated sustainability into every part of the ICC Sydney's operations. This new milestone is a fantastic acknowledgement of the programs we have in place to give back to our local communities and better preserve the environment.”
