Estoril Congress Center undertakes benchmarking of environmental performance
Source: ITCM www.incentivetravel.co.uk
In an important milestone, the environmental performance
of Estoril Congress Center has been recognised by EarthCheck; the
travel and tourism industry's leading environmental management,
benchmarking and certification company EarthCheck
operates the world's most scientifically rigorous benchmarking
program and measures key indicators such as energy and water
consumption, total waste production, and community commitment to
provide a holistic picture of operational performance.
Benchmarking involves submitting a year's worth of operational
data to EarthCheck, and this is in turn compared with industry data
collected from more than 1200 organizations in over 65 countries.
By taking such a scientific approach to measuring the effectiveness
of their sustainability practices, Estoril Congress Center has been
able to identify where they were out-performing others and where
room for improvement remained.
The Director of the Estoril Congress Center, Pedro Rocha dos
Santos, said that this achievement is part of a long term
commitment and a journey that the ECC started back in 2007, to
build a more responsible and sustainable business model, which
became a reference and an international case study in the MI
Industry. The ECC will continue to improve its sustainability
performance aiming the next degree in Green Certification with
Earth Check during 2012, the Silver Certification.
Estoril Congress Center rated at or above Best Practice levels for
Energy Consumption, Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2),
Potable Water Consumption, Waste Sent to Landfill, Waste Recycling
Rating, Paper Products Rating, Cleaning Products Rating and
Pesticide Products Rating.
For economies reliant on travel and tourism, EarthCheck's
benchmarking data provides the only historical record of the global
environmental impacts of the industry over the past 12 years. More
importantly, it rates the effectiveness of industry efforts to
reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG) and conserve natural
resources at a project-by-project level.
"I am delighted that Estoril Congress Center have Benchmarked
their operations," stated Stewart Moore, EarthCheck CEO. "They have
recognized the need to be responsible for the impacts of their
operations and transparent in their environmental
statements."
By undertaking benchmarking with EarthCheck, Estoril Congress
Center has joined other industry leaders who have demonstrated a
willingness to take meaningful steps towards resolving some of the
very real issues that face the planet.
