It’s important to us to ensure that our events are sustainable, helping prepare our world to meet the challenges of tomorrow. One key issue when it comes to sustainability is energy supply. Our vision is a renewable, decentralized, digital, continuously available energy supply. We have been working passionately and tirelessly toward this goal for over 30 years now.
The smarter E, the platform for the new energy world, offers a global showcase for innovations. It opens up markets and encourages knowledge-sharing and networking. To ensure that the event itself is sustainable, we examine every aspect from booth construction and carpeting to mobility and catering. We are gradually implementing measures to make all of these areas more environmentally friendly.
The smarter E Europe is held at the Exhibition Center Messe München . Some of the center’s sustainable solutions can be found here:
It’s not possible for us to go entirely without signage. After all, we want to make your exhibition visit as straightforward as possible. We use digital forms of signage or try to use sustainable (recycleable) material wherever possible. We also try to think ahead when designing the signage, to ensure that it can be stored and used in the years to come.
With 115,000 people in attendance, the visitor lanyards alone make for a huge quantity of giveaways. Despite the higher cost, we have decided to switch to recyclable material. Our rPET lanyards are made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled PET. At the end of their life cycle, they are returned to the loop and fully recycled.
We’ve largely eliminated other giveaways or made sure that our other giveaways are long-lasting and genuinely useful.
All of our marketing materials are assessed for sustainability. We carefully consider which materials still need to be printed at all. For example, the exhibition registration and various booking options are now available online and we have entirely replaced our Event Directory with online information.
When selecting partners, it is important to us that their operations are sustainable. We have also fostered long-standing business relationships. For example, we use recycled paper for our badges.
We want to prioritize reusable materials and avoid waste. We are working to ensure sustainable booth construction for our own booths, with wooden parts and reusable modules. We have partnered up with the company meplan and use their innovative and sustainable exhibition booth system woodï, which is designed according to the principles of the circular economy and drastically reduces the carbon footprint.
We use a sustainable type of carpet which is produced with less water and lower emissions of CO2 and other gases than conventional exhibition carpets. Each year, we meticulously review how much carpet is really needed and where we can do without it for the sake of the environment.
We have not used carpeting in entrances or hallways since 2021.
We strive to ensure a mindful approach to the purchasing and packaging of food and drink. We are pleased that our catering businesses comply with the following requirements:
Wherever possible, we try to implement the principle of “first avoid then reduce then compensate” and are constantly working on new digital solutions to avoid/reduce signage or printed documents, for example.
We’re developing a disposal concept for our exhibitors, where the primary goal is to drastically reduce the amount of waste generated during booth construction.
Our team mainly uses public transport or bikes for commuting. Sustainable transport is also the preferred method for business trips. For events, we try to use regional and seasonal products and avoid disposable tableware. We are constantly reviewing and optimizing our work processes, and we work almost entirely without paper.
There are sure to be other areas with room for improvement. But we are determined to keep moving forward with our efforts to make our events more sustainable. Do you have any suggestions? We would be delighted to hear them.