Christopher BarrettInternational venue management giant ASM Global has announced that it will channel further resources into making its venues more sustainable, with the aim of them all being carbon neutral by 2050.
Formed by the merger of AEG Facilities and SMG in 2019, ASM Global operates more than 325 venues worldwide including the OVO Arena Wembley (cap. 12,500), Utilita Arena Newcastle (11,000), Aberdeen’s P&J Live (16,000) and Bonus Arena Hull (3,500).
More than 40 of the company’s venues have been Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified, and ASM said its corporate social responsibility platform ASM Global Acts in partnership with Honeycomb Strategies have created a plan to ensure the environmental impact of all of its venues is significantly reduced with the aim of providing “the most sustainable venues on Earth”.
ASM Global has committed to the following for all its venues:
- Reduce energy consumption by 25% by 2030 from baseline year (2023).
- Achieve 20% of all energy consumed through renewable energy sources by 2025.
- Carbon neutral by 2050.
- Divert over 50% of waste overall by 2025.
- Eliminate single-use plastic in front of house by 2025.
- Reduce water consumption by 25% by 2030 from baseline year (2023).
- Award 50% of its reportable spend to suppliers adhering to its environmental purchasing policy by 2030.
- Increase plant-based menu options by 35% by 2024 within Savor (ASM Global’s food division) venues.
- Decrease food waste by 75% by 2026 within Savor venues.
ASM Global president and CEO Ron Bension said, “Our current portfolio of LEED-certified venues has set the standard, and we’re now raising the bar even higher.
“This entire program will be integrated into all of the relationships with our existing and future clients as part of our intrinsic ASM Global DNA.
“As we stated when we first partnered with Honeycomb Strategies last summer, demand from our established and newer clients for state-of-the-art sustainability innovations has been consistently increasing. We are now in a position to work with them and lead the industry in this incredibly important space.”