The Olympia event business has released its annual large-scale planning report, showing ESG activities and results for 2024, and is making progress towards Net Zero.
Olympia’s ESG strategy, Grand Plan, focuses on three key areas: the community, environment and collaboration across which businesses can have the greatest impact on the event industry, their local community, and the environment.
Driving 22 sustainability ambassadors from across the company and its service partners, the program aims to drive meaningful change by reducing the footprint of the environmental venue, serving as a community hub, and working with all stakeholders to accelerate sustainable action.
The report uncovers important insights into venue reductions and waste management practices, reporting that between 2023 and 2024, food waste per cover fell by 33%, thus correlated with carbon emissions.
For the 13th year in a row, the venue continued to divert 100% of waste from landfills, slightly increasing its recycling rate from 98% to 98.22%. The venue also donated 2.4 tonnes of surplus food to local charities through its ongoing partnership with City Harvest.
Commenting on this progress, Cyan Richards, Director of Sustainability at Olympia’s Events, said, “These annual reports are on track to meet the requirements set forth in the Zero Roadmap, allowing us to communicate this progress transparently with other industries.”
To better inform your carbon footprint, the venue has issued a bespoke emissions reporting tool to the top 75% of emissions suppliers to collect more reliable data and measure scope 3 emissions. The venue also co-funded a carbon literacy training program across the industry, providing accessible education for event experts to increase understanding of carbon impacts and climate action.
Richards added: “We still have a long way to go to meet our net-zero target by 2050, with 92% of our carbon footprint coming from Scope 3 emissions and need to encourage collaboration with our network of suppliers and partners.”
The Olympia event made several contributions to the community in 2024.
A total of £55,000 was raised, donated to charities, and through the charity trust, the venue provided grants of over £27,000 to local schools and community projects, supporting education and enhancement programs for students and residents.
Additionally, Olympia staff volunteered 280 hours of various community projects throughout the year.
Check out Olympia’s complete 2024 Grand Plan Report. Watch the Grand Plan video here.
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