Convention centre directors visit Barcelona to learn about environmental management

Late last year, the heads of 25 worldwide meetings and events venues came to the Barcelona International Convention Centre’s (CCIB’s) temporary waste transfer plant, to learn about the sound environmental practices in place.

The visit was part of the International Association of Congress Centre’s (IACC’s) Event Management Summit. 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 goes one step beyond the criteria established by municipal regulations, which requires separating waste into five groups.

Installed in the CCIB’s loading dock and with a surface area of 300 square metres, 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).




Waste of space: CCIB's waste transfer plant


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.

The CCIB also manages and controls the special wastes generated internally by the centre itself. These include fluorescent lights, light bulbs, paints, varnishes, oils, greases, batteries, accumulators, toners, inks and computer waste products, all of which have a designated area in the venue’s waste transfer plant. 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.

This profound and complex waste treatment has even more merit when you consider the CCIB’s dimensions: a surface area of more than 100,000 square metres 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 regard, the CCIB will shortly be receiving the ISO 14001 certification, an international regulation that establishes how to introduce an efficient environmental management system.