Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) Acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Narrm, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and to Elders of all First Nations communities that visit MCEC.

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All Energy and Waste Australia Exhibition and Conference

MCEC welcomed the All-Energy and Waste Australia Exhibition & Conference from 11 – 12 October in 2017. The two events form Australia’s largest showcase for environment and energy, occupying a combined footprint of 15,000 sqm of exhibition space, 10 exhibition bays, theatre space and nine meeting rooms.

Waste Expo Australia is Australia’s premier business-to-business exhibition and conference showcasing new technologies, products and solutions across all areas of waste management, resource recovery and sustainability.

The 2017 program showcased expert opinions from more than 120 speakers and featured more than 120 domestic and international exhibiting companies.

The 2017 event achieved a record-breaking attendance, with 6,772 unique visitors filling the exhibition bays and conference sessions over the two days. That represents an increase of 47 per cent on the 2016 event.

Reed Exhibitions Australia own and managed the event, with 2017 being the first year of delivering the Waste Expo component, which spanned two exhibition bays.

Sustainability

Sustainability was a key theme throughout the duration of the event and at the core of MCEC’s business practices, with the venue constantly looking for ways to reduce its environmental footprint.

11,569kWh of electricity was consumed in the exhibition bays and 100 per cent of that electricity was procured by Reed Exhibitions Australia as green power (compared with a consumption of 13,369.000kWh in 2016 – a reduction of 1,800kWh).

For this event, retail food packaging consisted of eco-friendly bamboo boxes for takeaway items, biodegradable cutlery and coffee cups and biodegradable paper trays for small takeaway food items. Reusable baskets were used for onsite catering.

Additional waste streams were added for the duration of the event, with delegates offered four stream options (rather than the standard two) including: paper, organic, co-mingled rubbish and landfill.

At the conclusion of the event, all surplus food and beverage products that could not be repurposed within the venue were donated to OzHarvest in support of MCEC’s food rescue strategy.