Cleaning up after the MICE in Nantes

• Waste management saves € 2 000 per year
• Avoids 3.7 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year

The meetings, inventives, conferences/conventions, exhibitions (MICE) sector generates diverse forms of waste as different exhibitors, delegates, caterers, subcontractors, etc. go about their business. Nantes Conference Centre ('The City') in France was no exception. The variety of waste made the job of 'cleaning and greening' The City all-the-more challenging.

The City’s main aim was to increase the overall rate of recycled materials. A surprisingly simple solution to this rather complex problem was to set up a sorting system backed up by awareness-raising to ensure that all staff, event organisers, service-providers and delegates respect these waste-management measures. 

Key benefits

The initiatives carried out around specific sorting zones, as well as the awareness-raising efforts, have led to a 32 % increase in recycled materials between 2014 and 2015, and 100 % of carpets and organic waste are now recycled thanks to dedicated channels.

The recycling initiative also mean less waste bins need to be collected by the Nantes municipality, and reduced movement of trucks around The City. Altogether, the actions taken have led to annual cots savings of € 2 000 and 10.2 tonnes in resource savings.