Despite not sending any food waste generated at the London venue to landfill for more than a decade, Olympia London has introduced new measures to ensure food waste isn’t created in the first place.
To help achieve this, Olympia London partnered with WRAP in the national campaign ‘Guardians of Grub’ to track food waste on site by measuring spoilage, preparation, inedible and plate waste.
Four months into the campaign, Olympia London shared results that showed in 2018 it collected 43 tonnes of food waste but between September and December last year it was able to reduce this to 35.5 tonnes.
“This is a fantastic achievement by Olympia London, and we are delighted that our Guardians of Grub campaign helped support this important drive,” said Eleanor Morris, sector specialist hospitality and food service at WRAP.
“Olympia London has shown that by raising awareness of food waste and tackling the problem in a measured and holistic way, we can stop good food going to waste. This programme has been a great success both for the benefit of the participating businesses, for the environment, and in showing the public that there is no place for food waste at any Olympia London event.”
The holistic approach to reducing food waste meant engaging organisers in the topic and educating them on the impact food waste has not only on the environment but financially as well.
Working with each participant organiser, the venue also compared previous events’ statistics to target areas and create a tailored solution whenever possible.
At Decorex, for example, Olympia London organised a tailored pop-up restaurant – The Garden. The menu for the event offered a majority of plant-based dishes, with more than 50 per cent of the dishes categorised as zero waste as they left no trace on site.
Olympia London staff were also encouraged to get involved by measuring their own food waste and share tips on portion control and creating single-ingredient meals.
“Each area of our business is different so we have to adapt the way we measure to suit each operation, ensuring we capture all stats,” said Abbey Short, catering manager at Olympia London.
“We will continue to engage with our customers, visitors and colleagues to understand behaviours around food waste, and work collaboratively until we can say ‘we are a zero‐food waste venue’ in addition to zero to landfill.”
Read the full case study, including participating events, internal initiatives and service partners actions here.
A desire to travel led Holly Patrick to the business meetings and events world and she’s never looked back. Holly takes a particular interest in event sustainability and creating a diverse and inclusive industry. When she’s not working, she can be found rolling skating along Brighton seafront listening to an eclectic playlist, featuring the likes of Patti Smith, Sean Paul, and Arooj Aftab.
