Intensified cooperation between Easyfairs and Van Werven for waste management Evenementenhal locations

Owner Easyfairs and waste partner Van Werven signed a new cooperation contract for the waste management of the Evenementenhal locations Gorinchem and Hardenberg on the second exhibition day of the Recycling trade show in Gorinchem. "With this cooperation, we are taking the next step towards even better waste management with sustainability as the starting point," said CEO Jeroen van Hooff of Easyfairs Netherlands.

Easyfairs is a global exhibition organizer and also owner of event venues in Europe. Under the banner of Easyfairs Netherlands, it owns Evenementenhal Gorinchem and Evenementenhal Hardenberg, among others. These two locations jointly host more than 200 events each year, organized by Easyfairs and external parties. These events attract over half a million visitors a year. Van Hooff: "One can imagine that this leads to the necessary waste streams. We have already made good strides, but we aim to further reduce the amount of waste per visitor and recycle more and better."

Over the past two years, Easyfairs has already made the necessary adjustments to further reduce waste. Plastic attributes such as plastic plates and bowls have been banned and replaced by environmentally friendly alternatives. Van Hooff: "Sustainability goes beyond waste management for us. Look for example at our new upper floor in Gorinchem: Next Level. The sanitary facilities include waterless urinals, saving us thousands of liters of precious drinking water per year. We are also one of the few event venues in the Netherlands to reuse our floor covering."

In cooperation with Van Werven, existing waste streams were mapped for the Gorinchem and Hardenberg locations. "We are going to separate at the source. In other words, paper, swill, GFT, foils, glass and more. All these raw materials previously went to residual waste and were incinerated. Burning this waste is not a solution in our eyes. At our recycling sites, we turn about 92 percent of the waste into new products. Recycling is not only good for our environment, it also saves costs. At Van Werven we call this working together on real solutions," says Van Werven CEO Ton van der Giessen.

Van Hooff adds: "From Easyfairs we have also looked at the amount of waste streams and which waste streams can be reduced. From 2020, we are already striking a very big blow with the introduction of our smartbadge technology at all trade shows organized by Easyfairs. Starting next year, every visitor will receive a badge upon entry and they can use this badge to scan exhibitor stands they are interested in and want more information about. After the trade show visit, they will receive an e-mail containing all the information of the exhibitors they scanned. This tool is very user-friendly and also better for the environment because it saves a lot of printing," said Van Hooff.