The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has launched a roadmap for the events industry to help the sector reduce its waste output and deliver ‘significant savings’.

The roadmap forms part of a new WRAP strategy, ‘Zero waste events: a 2020 vision’, and was launched yesterday (5 March) with the goal of seeing ‘no waste being sent to landfill from UK events by the end of the decade’.

According to WRAP, the events industry currently consists of around 25,000 business supporting half a million full time equivalent jobs, with its current value of £36 million set to rise to £48 million by 2020. WRAP claims that although some in the sector are recycling as much as 50 per cent of their waste, the industry average sits closer to 15 per cent, with a large amount of waste going to landfill.

It is hoped that the Events Industry Roadmap – part of the European Pathway to Zero Waste (EPOW), a project launched by WRAP in conjunction with the Environment Agency and European Union (EU) – will mark ‘the first stage in raising awareness of the positive impact which effective management of waste has on the delivery of events, both economically and environmentally’.

It is intended for ‘all those involved in planning and delivering events from event organisers/planners, managers and contractors, venue owners and promoters, corporate sponsors, local authorities, waste contractors, hospitality and catering companies to construction firms and builders’.

The roadmap includes the following objectives:

• to set out a vision of how the industry can achieve zero waste to landfill by 2020;
• to encourage the industry to work more in partnership across the supply chain, both individually and collaboratively, to reduce waste;
• to draw attention to what must be done when planning and executing a zero waste event.

According to WRAP, ‘it is by key stakeholders taking action that the supply chain will be influenced most effectively, encouraging each link to review its own actions to minimise waste outputs, and maximise economic benefits’.

Tackling waste can yield ‘significant savings’

Lord de Mauley, Resource Management Minister, stated that: “The UK has a rich and diverse heritage of music festivals, sporting events and cultural activities running throughout the year. These bring considerable economic benefits to our towns and cities through domestic spending and by attracting tourists to our shores.

“An industry worth £36 billion can make significant savings by tackling waste and reducing the impact waste overheads have on the bottom line. The industry can use this roadmap to improve their business returns through simple, collective effort.”

One event held up as a best practice example of effective waste management, was the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic games. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Limited (LOCOG), found that the ‘greenest games ever’ diverted 100 per cent of waste from landfill, and ‘actually’ reused, recycled or composted 62 per cent of waste.

Dr Liz Goodwin, CEO of WRAP, said: “The London 2012 Olympics showed just what could be achieved by a clear commitment, by trying to prevent waste and manage it sustainably. Making waste prevention part of an event’s plan can deliver significant savings for businesses large and small.

“The Events Industry Roadmap was developed to support business growth by managing resources efficiently. It’s a simple vision, but it’s only by the industry individually and collectively taking on the challenge, that this vision can be realised – creating the opportunities for real economic benefits.”

WRAP is running a website to support the roadmap, which will ‘form a central repository for materials and information relating to achieving zero waste events’.

Download the Events Industry Roadmap.