Good Food & Wine Show in Sydney Sets New Record for Recycling

Sydney’s Good Food & Wine Show broke new records not only for visitors, but also for waste management, with the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre recycling more than 80% of the waste produced during the three-day event.

With UK chef Gordon Ramsay as the headline act, this year’s show, held June 20-22, attracted more than 50,000 visitors – almost double the headcount of 2007 – and recorded the highest resource recovery rate of any exhibition held at the centre.

As part of its ongoing campaign to reduce the environmental impact of exhibitions, the centre partnered with event organiser Diversified Exhibitions Australia to educate visitors and the 300-plus exhibitors about the show’s aim of reducing, recycling and reusing waste generated by the event.

Exhibitors and visitors were provided with detailed information on how waste from the event, such as untreated timber, steel/aluminium, cooking oil and cardboard, would be sorted, processed and recovered after the show at the UR-3R Facility in Sydney’s Eastern Creek.

Visitors were encouraged to reduce and recycle waste by using the centre’s three-bin recycling and waste stations positioned throughout the exhibition halls, and the on-site wine bottle crushing systems supplied by BottleCycler.

Meanwhile, waste was monitored throughout the event by a dedicated team of centre staff dressed in easily recognisable green-coloured shirts that read “Working Towards Zero Waste” – a slogan created specifically for the show.

Centre Operations Support Manager Rohit Maini said he was delighted with the outcome of the recycling initiatives adopted at the show, which resulted in the diversion from landfill of more than 15 tonnes of cardboard, 3.5 tonnes of glass (approximately 18,000 bottles), 11 tonnes of general waste, 2 tonnes of untreated timber, and 34 tonnes of recyclable food waste.

“This year’s Good Food and Wine Show was not only the busiest, it was also the best in terms of waste management. We were successful in diverting a huge quantity of the event’s waste from landfill, despite a record-breaking spike in visitor numbers, so we were very pleased with the result,” Mr Maini said.

The Sydney Good Food and Wine Show has been held at the centre every year since its launch in 2000.

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