Fitzroy Hutchinson is the Energy and Sustainability Manager at ICC Wales and The Celtic Collection. He joined the team in 2021, with a wealth of experience behind him following a successful career of 16 years in the NHS, both in Aneurin Bevan University and Cardiff University Health Boards. We caught up with Fitzroy to discuss sustainability in the meetings and events industry.
Fitzroy, what sparked your interest in energy, waste management and sustainability in the events sector?
When I was younger, I remember that I was intrigued by how my neighbours would segregate their waste for collections, they would separate out their recycling, waste and food waste; something we are now used to doing but, when I was younger this was a rare sight.
I am now in a role where I educate others on waste management and advise the clients of ICC Wales and The Celtic Collection on how they can achieve their environmental potential.
The meetings and events industry is definitely progressing when it comes to sustainability, and I want to play my part in this. My mission is to help ICC Wales and The Celtic Collection reach their full potential in energy and waste management. Since joining the team in 2021, I have particularly enjoyed getting stuck into projects, and providing solutions and support to suppliers and contractors. Watching the meetings and events industry strive towards a more sustainable future inspires me to look for new and innovative methods to help accelerate this.
Can you tell us about some of the initiatives that have been implemented across ICC Wales and The Celtic Collection?
ICC Wales and The Celtic Collection recognise their moral and social responsibilities to the environment and are committed to developing a greener business. There are various sustainable features that have been implemented across The Celtic Collection and ICC Wales including water fountains, also known as our hydration stations, which provide visitors with free reusable bottles to use during their time with us, reducing the amount of plastic used. To further this, at ICC Wales we have committed to being a no single-use plastic venue.
Across both The Celtic Collection and ICC Wales our sites are controlled by Building Management Systems (BMS), which use natural daylight to reduce the amount of heating and cooling and focus on emitting the right amount of energy, in the right place at the right time. The venues also use Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technology, which generates free electricity and heat simultaneously, removing the need for consumption from both the gas and electricity networks. All of this combined has helped us to reduce our CO2 emissions.
At ICC Wales, sustainability formed a huge focus in the original design of the venue. In addition to state-of-the-art technology, we also have a food waste recycling system, which helps to generate low-carbon electricity and the combined heat and power generator produces around 20 per cent of the power output by the venue. This has helped the venue save 20.3 tons of food waste from going into landfill, whilst also removing around 50.7 tons of CO2 emissions. We also send food waste to Bryn Power’s anaerobic digestion facility to generate low-carbon electricity for the South Wales grid.
Being situated on the outskirts of the city of Newport means that our venue is surrounded by nature. Nature plays an important role at the convention centre, with over 15,000 shrubs and trees planted in the surrounding Coldra woods. This flora is a habitat for local wildlife and as they grow, they will offset around 90 tons of carbon every year.
We also wanted to extend our sustainable options to offer a public transport service for visitors and delegates. In 2019, we collaborated with Newport Bus and worked together to offer a fully electric, zero emissions bus service to the venue.
What is next in terms of sustainability for The Celtic Collection and ICC Wales?
We have already started the year with our first project, which is our new Tesla SuperCharger Station at The Celtic Manor Resort, which greatly enhances the charging facilities we can provide to electric vehicle drivers. It is also a convenient service for passing motorists on the M4 as well as the visitors to the Resort and ICC Wales.
We have some further projects planned for 2023, which will further champion our sustainability efforts across ICC Wales and The Celtic Collection. The schemes will be based around reducing food and general waste and improving on recycling from external and internal sources.
Within the meetings and events sector, waste generation is extremely high and it is our responsibility to have conversations with event organisers and clients and encourage them to look at options to reduce their waste. We are keen to educate organisers that by making changes it will affect and reduce their offsite environmental footprint.
Looking ahead, we are currently in the process of designing a solar panel site, with battery storage on the Resort site which will help reduce electricity consumption and emissions for both The Celtic Manor Resort and ICC Wales. We hope that this site will launch in 2024.
To find out more about The Celtic Collection click here and for ICC Wales click here.
