Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre wins environmental award

For the fourth year running, the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre has won the Best Green Initiative category at the national Exhibition and Events Association of Australasia’s Annual Awards.

Announced at a gala dinner in Sydney last night, the award recognises the ongoing emphasis that the venue places on its environmental practices as well as its role as an industry leader on sustainability issues.

Centre Chief Executive Ton van Amerongen said he was extremely proud of the achievement, which reflected the passion and enthusiasm of the Centre’s team.

“The fact that the Centre has won this award every year since it was first launched in 2008 recognises the commitment of our team,” Mr van Amerongen said.

“They are focussed on creating a more sustainable events industry and are always looking for new ways to improve our environmental performance.”

The award comes at the end of a year which has seen the Centre win more than 10 major industry accolades, including C&IT’s Worldwide Convention Centre Team of the Year , Australasia’s Leading Meetings and Conference Centre in the 2011 World Travel Awards and Best Meeting Venue for 500 delegates or more in the Meetings & Events Australia (MEA) National Awards.

The Centre’s submission for the national EEAA awards highlighted its continued improvements in its environmental measures, overseen by its own Ecowise team, as well as work this year to create a long-term strategic plan for the venue which identifies new waste management targets for the period 2011 to 2015.

In the past year, the Centre’s green initiatives have earnt it a number of industry awards. It has also been recognised as a Green Globe (Silver) Benchmarked Convention Centre, a Bronze Partner of the NSW Government’s Sustainability Advantage program and received the Earthcheck Silver Certification and ISO 14001:2004 Standard for Environmental Management Systems.