Directors from 25 international convention centres visit the CCIB’s temporary waste transfer plant, pioneer in Spain.
Barcelona, December 15th, 2009.- On November 29th, directors from 25 worldwide convention centres visited the Barcelona International Convention Centre’s (CCIB) temporary waste transfer plant, as an example of sound practices in environmental policy.
The visit was a part of the AIPC – The International Association of Congress Centre’s Event Management Summit, held in Barcelona on November 29th and 30th.
The plant, inaugurated in October 2008, is a pioneer in Spain as it sorts waste products into six different types, separating metal from plastic, which reduces environmental impact even more.
This sorting goes one step beyond the criteria established by municipal regulations, which requires separating waste into 5 groups.
Installed in the Centre’s loading dock and with a surface area of 300m2, the temporary waste transfer plant has six large capacity bins identified by different colours: blue (paper), green (glass), orange (organic waste), mustard (metals), yellow (plastic) and brown (waste products that don’t fall into the previous categories).
In addition, in all of the CCIB’s common areas there are batteries of waste bins, with their corresponding coloured bags, avoiding possible confusions and making it easier to move them to the temporary waste transfer plant. Foment del Reciclatge, the authorized waste management company, is in charge of collecting the waste for it to be treated correctly.
In parallel with recycling 6 different types of general wastes, the CCIB manages and controls the special wastes generated internally by the centre itself. So in the temporary waste transfer plant there is a properly delimited space for special waste management: fluorescent lights, light bulbs, paints, varnishes, oils, greases, batteries, accumulators, toners, inks and computer waste
products.
Special wastes undergo a parallel control carried out by the CCIB’s cleaning department, due to the importance of their correct separation and control using identifying labels indicating the maximum storage time of these wastes, which in no case should ever exceed 6 months.
This profound and complex waste treatment has even more merit when you consider the CCIB’s dimensions: a surface area of over 100,000m2 with a capacity to host events for up to 15,000 delegates.
The CCIB’s temporary waste transfer plant is a part of the extensive environmental policy the complex has been practicing since its opening in 2004. In this respect, the CCIB will shortly be receiving the ISO 14001 certification, an international regulation that establishes how to introduce an efficient environmental management system.
EIBTM acknowledges the CCIB’s efforts in sustainability matters
In acknowledgement of the Barcelona convention centre’s environmental policy, the organizers of the Convention, Meetings and Incentives Trade Fair, EIBTM 2009, held in Barcelona from December 1st to the 3rd, awarded it a certificate recognizing the centre’s contribution in sustainability matters, both permanently in its facilities and during its presence at the fair.
Specifically, of the twenty initiatives proposed by EIBTM, the CCIB complied with twelve, seven more than required by the fair organizers, of which some of the most outstanding were: the contribution of sustainable ideas and improvements for the fair, the reduction of paper at the CCIB’s stand and facilities, promoting environmental aspects among clients and suppliers, maintaining a documented environmental policy and waste recycling.
