The eco-audit of Meetings Africa 2011 revealed an impressive benchmark, which the show’s owner, South African Tourism (SAT), is determined to surpass this year.

“Meetings Africa is considered the leading business tourism exhibition in Africa. To maintain this status we need to constantly look for ways to improve the show, and embracing sustainable business practices has become one such priority,” says Nomasonto Ndlovu, global manager for business tourism at SAT. “Greening is a global trend, and one that has special significance for our tourism industry, given that we benefit from some of the most amazing landscapes and wildlife in the world.”

An eco-audit assesses the environmental impact of an event, by measuring aspects such as waste output and carbon footprint. Last year, Meetings Africa embraced a number of event greening practices – including recycling and the purchasing of renewable energy to power the show – which means that it did well to set a robust standard.

While the event greening strategies used last year will be repeated, they will be refined and accompanied by some new initiatives. Renewed focus will be placed on waste minimisation through the principles of reducing and reusing.

“One strategy we are implementing to reduce waste is to encourage people to drink the free, fresh water from the water coolers, with reusable drinking bottles or glasses,” says Pippa Walker from the Event Greening Forum. The Event Greening Forum is a section 21 company that aims to promote event greening business practices in South Africa and has been assisting the Meetings Africa team with its greening strategy.

Walker adds: “Bottled water will not be banned, but we are hoping to drastically reduce its consumption. And, although disposable plastic water bottles can be recycled, it is still a resource-intense process, so reducing their use needs to be prioritised.”

The reuse principle will also be promoted in the break-down stage of the event, where collection points will be set up for unwanted branding, brochures and stand materials like wood. These will then be distributed to community projects that have a use for them.

“We have set an ambitious target to divert 75% of the waste from Meetings Africa 2012 into reuse and recycling streams, which will be a 14% improvement from last year,” says Ndlovu.

An eco-audit will be conducted again this year, by sustainability consultants Steadfast Greening, so that the expected improvements can be quantified and verified.

Meetings Africa 2012 runs from 28 February to 2 March 2012, at the Sandton Convention Centre.  To register for the event, visit at www.meetingsafrica.co.za.