ASM Global, through its corporate social responsibility platform, ASM Global Acts, and in partnership with Honeycomb Strategies, has announced a dramatic plan—the most aggressive in the live entertainment industry—to convert its portfolio into the most sustainable venues on Earth.
Colorado Convention Center / Photo courtesy of ASM Global.
Beginning this year ASM Global will dedicate its full resources to achieving measurable results throughout its businesses using the most comprehensive tracking system in the venue space—intended to reflect that scale and create substantial collective impact on every continent it operates.
The company working with its client partners already boasts the largest collection of certified green venues with over 40 and growing throughout the portfolio.
In making the announcement, 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.”
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.
Lindsay Arell, one of Honeycomb Strategies’ two principals, said, “The project has already begun. We’ve selected a group of pilot venues across size, type and continents that have begun reporting against the goals. The aim is to add additional venues at a fast pace to obtain important baseline information for 2023.”
“For almost 20 years, the Colorado Convention Center has been a leader on the live event sustainability front,” said John Adams, general manager of the Colorado Convention Center. “We are excited to be a pilot venue for this project as ASM Global expands this commitment to all of its venues worldwide.”
ASM Global has partnered with WeTrack, a SaaS company that provides planning, sustainability goals and operations solutions to some of the world’s biggest sports and entertainment brands including FIFA, IOC, Wimbledon, World Triathlon and many others. The WeTrack system has been developed to help customers track progress on sustainability, ESG and CSR initiatives.
ASM Global venue ambassadors will each have a system set up for them with common indicators that ASM Global wants to track along with venue goals specific to the community in which they operate.
Honeycomb Strategies’ recent major sustainability programs and projects include the Colorado Convention Center, Moscone Center, Philadelphia Eagles, SoFi Stadium, Minnesota Vikings, Barclays Center, Visit Denver, Greenbuild Conference and Expo, Natural Products Expo, and Sustainable Brands.