Ahead of its May trade show, the IMEX Group has published its first ever externally-verified Sustainability Report for IMEX Frankfurt in 2022. Previous environmental reports for IMEX Frankfurt have been conducted by IMEX staff only. The newly published report, is available here, covers aspects such as waste management, energy and water usage, event design and also social impact.
The report for IMEX Frankfurt 2022 has been prepared by sustainability partners Meet Green. According to a press release, this marks an extension of an existing partnership, as well as the first step in an ongoing process of data-gathering intended to measure and improve the show’s environmental impact.
“In working with an external authority to validate results, this report represents an important sustainability step for IMEX and establishes the benchmark against which all future IMEX Frankfurt shows will be measured”, the release reads.
What the report is said to reveal are “notable achievements in waste diversion and energy use, as well as highlighting several opportunities for improvement”. These include simplifying and standardising carbon footprint measurement, sourcing more carpet with recycled content and expanding community donations.
As well as benchmarking the show year-on-year, the report is designed to share the IMEX team’s learnings with the rest of the global business events industry and – ultimately – enable long term change. One example of a long-term shift is the show’s energy use: Since 2012, IMEX has worked with host venue Messe Frankfurt to achieve 100 percent renewable electricity use. As a result, Messe Frankfurt has now adopted 100 percent renewable sourcing as a standard operating procedure across all its events.
These are some of the report’s key points:
“We’ve long been committed to improving and developing our sustainability practices at IMEX Frankfurt and were able to share some good results prior to the pandemic,” explains Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group. “However, thanks to an expanded partnership with our sustainability consultants Meet Green, I’m delighted to share this first externally-verified Sustainability Report for IMEX Frankfurt 2022.”
