18 April 2011

The Adelaide Convention Centre has achieved silver EarthCheck certification for the second consecutive year.

The credential certifies the ACC is performing at ‘above best practice’ in seven key areas of natural resource reduction. Its success in diverting waste from landfill saw it graded 57% above best practice.

The internationally respected EarthCheck Program, run by EC3 Global, is used by more than 1100 tourism and travel organisations in 65 countries. Among them are some of the world’s leading convention centres, hotel and travel groups, national park agencies, community organizations, and government regulators.

Program participants seek to manage their operations in an environmentally sustainable way to reduce their carbon footprints, gain cost savings, and improve triple bottom line performance.

Early in 2009, Adelaide became the first convention centre in Australia to achieve bronze EarthCheck accreditation. It was the first centre in Australia to progress to silver status last year and must undergo a rigorous audit process each year for five years to gain the coveted gold status.

“There are plenty of organisations out there espousing their ‘green’ or ‘eco’ credentials,” says the centre’s Chief Executive, Alec Gilbert, “but few of them have programs based on science and even fewer put themselves up for independent auditing.

“At ACC, benchmarking, research and continuous improvement are fundamental to achieving our sustainability goals – and living up to our ‘Gold Service, Green Attitude’ philosophy.”

The centre’s concerted ‘green crusade’ is now in its fifth year. Organic waste going to landfill has been virtually eliminated; it is aiming to reuse and recycle at least 90% of exhibition waste; electricity consumption has been cut by 26% and gas consumption by 35%; and the carbon emissions from staging events can be accurately calculated and offset.

“Ours is a company-wide approach,” Alec Gilbert says. “Sustainability is part of our business plan, the Board and senior management embrace our programs, and many of the best ideas – and much of the daily commitment – comes from the staff.”