10 October 2024
Excel London and Bywaters, London’s leading recycling and waste management company, has today announced a new long-term collaboration that will see the two commit to ambitious sustainability targets in a bid to address the ‘temporary nature’ of the events industry.
The family-run business Bywaters, whose clients include the London Stadium, the NHS and the Houses of Parliament, is an industry leader in providing innovative recycling, waste and environmental services and already sends zero waste to landfill.
Following a in depth onboarding process, Bywaters will now oversee Excel’s waste services, including those for its forthcoming new 25,000sqm expansion, focusing on sustainability and complementing the venue’s net zero pledge to cut 50% of emissions by 2030 from an ambitious 2022 baseline year.
As part of the collaboration, a new 28-point Waste Strategy plan has been devised to further improve recycling, reduce contamination, enhance its operations and work with venue partners and event organisers to embed circular economy principles and sustainably manage waste generated at the venue.
The key changes for event organisers include a new waste services rate card in 2025 that incentivises recycling, a new waste management function and the introduction of Waste Ambassadors who will act as a dedicated team during event production to monitor compliance, the development of event-specific waste strategies, and improvements in data capturing for event-specific reporting.
In addition, this includes a pledge to achieve a recycling rate of 75% by 2025, a year-on-year reduction in waste volumes, the introduction of a new dedicated waste management team, new waste streams and new services incentivising recycling and sustainable choices.
Kerrie Kemp, Excel’s Director of Venue Operations, said: “With almost 100 years of business success between us, Excel and Bywaters share a commitment and prowess to deliver sustainable events at the highest level. Together, we believe we have created a service that will deliver a significant step-change and unrivalled value for the events sector – one that truly understands the ‘temporary nature’ of our industry.
She added: “At the centre of this partnership lies a joint commitment to achieving net zero, backed by strategic volume, food waste and CO2 emission reduction schemes, all complemented by an array of ESG initiatives and legacy projects. In addition, the Excel-Bywaters collaboration will provide increased efficiencies, innovative solutions, and enhancing our operations beyond regulatory compliance – all helping event organisers, exhibitors and the sector take the vital steps it needs to become a zero-waste industry.”
John P Glover, Bywaters Managing Director, added: “We are delighted to be working with Excel London to help make it one of the most sustainable venues in the UK. This can be achieved from introducing a pioneering 75% recycling rate by 2025, together with a variety of carbon offsetting and reduction strategies, all designed to reduce their scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. By working together, we also aim to set new standards such as delivering the first ‘100% Reuse & Recycling’ event.”
