At ExCeL London, we are passionate about creating a meaningful and inspiring legacy and are committed to having a positive impact on our local community and the world around us.

We are proud to be part of the world’s largest sustainability initiative, the UN Global Compact, and are certified to both ISO14001 and ISO20121, the environmental standard for the events industry.

Our strategy focuses on four key areas: reducing waste, increasing energy efficiency, delivering more sustainable food choices, and supporting our local community.

Reducing waste:

Our key initiatives to maintain a zero waste-to-landfill policy, with over half our waste recycled and rest used to create renewable energy include:

• The UK’s largest commercial wormery, which recycles vegetable waste from our kitchens, generating fertiliser for green spaces.
• The #NoPlastic campaign commitment to reduce single-use plastic, including the installation of water fountains, the removal of plastic straws from point-of-sale and introduction of discounts for visitors with reusable cups. This campaign reduced the number of plastic bottles by more than 200,000 in 2019.
• Donating surplus food and furniture from events to CFE (Community Food Enterprise), who share these items with local community projects throughout Newham.

Energy efficiency:

Our key initiatives to cut carbon and increase water and energy efficiency include: 

• Ensuring 100% of our electricity supply is from renewable sources, and our gas supply is carbon offset using UN credits.
• Replacing light fittings with LED eco-friendly lighting, resulting in a 70% energy saving per fitting. Since the programme started, we have reduced energy consumption by 22%.
• Installing a living wall of over 9,500 plants on the walkway to ExCeL from Custom House DLR station, meaning fewer air pollutants, improved biodiversity, greater oxygen production and decreased noise. 
• Using waterless urinals, saving over 16 million litres of water every year. Pressure taps are also used in all washrooms to ensure that water usage is kept to a minimum.

Sustainable food choices:

Our key initiatives to promote sustainable food choices and improve the nutritional value of our offering include: 

• No longer promoting red meat on our hospitality menus. 25% of our menus are already plant-based, vegan or vegetarian.
• Ensuring menus use a minimum of 80% British seasonal fruit and vegetables.
• Harnessing culinary innovation and where possible, repurposing ingredients.
• Collecting used vegetable oil and converting it to biofuel.
• Retaining used coffee grounds to create fertiliser for ExCeL’s green spaces.

Supporting our local community:

ExCeL is proud to support several Newham-based charities — all of which undertake vital and inspirational work in our neighbouring community.

• Bonny Downs provides a weekly lunch for homeless and deprived people. In partnership with ExCeL London Hospitality, we provide a full Christmas lunch, for 70 people, served by members of the ExCeL team.
• Community Food Enterprise (CFE) provides healthy and nutritious food for those in need, across the London Borough of Newham, including the homeless, isolated elderly and refugees. We support their efforts with regular donations of surplus food and other items, such as merchandise from exhibitors. We also buy fresh fruit from CFE to provide ExCeL staff with a healthy snack and at Christmas, the team arrange a collection of food, toys, clothing, and other items, which CFE distribute throughout Newham.
• NASSA (Newham All Stars Sports Academy) works with children and young people from Newham to provide sports coaching as a way of preventing them from engaging in antisocial behaviour and knife crime. In addition to financial support, the ExCeL team have helped to develop a new brand identity and website for NASSA, to support their fundraising efforts.
• Richard House Children’s Hospice provides care to children with life limiting illnesses, and support for their families. We host an annual Christmas tree lighting event, to celebrate the work of the hospice.
• London Academy of Excellence seeks to provide a greater opportunity for Newham’s young people to get into the UK’s top universities. The school prioritises places for students eligible for free school meals. We make a contribution towards the academy’s Hardship and Opportunities Fund and assist with funding for visits that raise aspirations among students.
• Hope for Newham collects unwanted lost property from ExCeL including jackets, coats, scarfs, shoes, trousers, and jumpers for local homeless shelters.

You can learn more about ExCeL’s work on sustainability here