ACC Liverpool has boosted its green credentials even further after it achieved certification to the international standard ISO 20121, recognising the sustainability of its events.
The waterfront venue, one of the greenest of its kind in Europe, achieved certification to the Sustainable Event Management System standard which builds upon its existing management system standards such as ISO 14001, which was awarded in 2010.
ISO 20121 is a management system standard that has been designed to help organisations in the events industry improve the sustainability of their event related activities, products and services.
Kerry Quinn, operations director of ACC Liverpool, said: “This event industry specific standard will help us to continue to reduce our environmental impact, ensure we are making a positive contribution to the surrounding area, are following best practice and that our suppliers are economically viable.
“We will be assessed regularly which means we can continually work on our sustainability credentials. As a result our clients can be assured that their events at ACC Liverpool will be as sustainable as possible.
“It is a significant achievement which formalises the high standards we set ourselves and recognises the way we operate and the processes we go through in our endeavours to be a company that lives and breathes sustainability.”
ACC Liverpool has its own Environmental Task Force (ETF) which, among other initiatives, fast-tracked the venue to ‘Zero to Landfill’ status. Green awards include Gold Standard in the Green Business Tourism Scheme, Healthy Stadia accreditation and a Green Apple award for the building.
Mark Gouldstone, sustainability management specialist at BSI, said: “Achieving certification to ISO 20121 is a credit to everyone at ACC Liverpool as it clearly demonstrates their commitment to becoming a more sustainable organisation. The team should be proud of the hard work that has gone into implementing a system that enables them to improve the sustainability of events and reduce their environmental impact.”
ISO 20121 is based on the earlier British Standard ‘BS 8901 Specification for a Sustainability Management System for Events’ which was first developed in 2007. An international version of the standard was created to coincide with the London 2012 Olympics.
