Sustainability at LGC Net Zero

An event built around its own themes of reducing carbon emissions


The venue

Factory Works is part of the Digbeth Group and is a repurposed, retrofitted factory, now used as a dry hire event space.

A number of policies are in place including;

  • Choosing waste suppliers with carbon credentials; their waste management service provider is carbon neutral since 2011
  • Donating food waste to a local charity
  • Permitting the use of resuable cups, and prohibiting the use of single-use plastics
  • Holding a custom furniture stock
  • Installing sensors in all taps and effective temperature control solutions
  • Choosing packaging suppliers whom only supply biodegradable and recyclable food containers

You can view their full sustainability policy here.


The menu

You will notice that the menu for this event has been chosen with sustainability in mind. We have chosen to mandate a vegetarian menu for the event and all of the ingredients are sourced as locally to the venue as possible. Food waste will be donated to a local charity, in line with the venue's sustainability policy.


Suppliers and collateral

Local Government Chronicle chooses its suppliers with a bias towards those partners who take sustainability seriously.

We are eliminating all paper print-outs at the event, except when requested by delegates by registration survey in aid of accessibility. Tickets are electronic instead of printed, and the signage we use is provided by the wonderful Insite Graphics which holds ISO14001 certification. Event signage is all either recyclable, reusable, or is used to provide community power when disposed of – none will go to landfill. All the ink is water-based and much of our signage is moving to carboard-based alternatives, recyclable in generic paper waste collections. The exhibition stands at the event are all provided by Insite Graphics, too. Mandating one supplier enables efficiencies in transport and setup therefore minimising carbon impact. All of the exhibition stands are powered by LED (low power emitting) and are made of reusable alluminium frames. 


Audio visual provider: Straycat Communications

Our audio visual partner is Straycat Communications. As a design agency, Straycat own very little kit themselves and are therefore able to use local suppliers to minimise carbon impact and cost; the result of this is less trucking than average, and an ability to be flexible to meet the demands of the event (rather than over-catering for the event). The majority of the lighting used at the event is LED, reducing electricity consumption by up to 80% compared to traditional tungsten lighting. We will insist at the event that no single use plastic is used gratuitously where this can be avoided (ie cable ties and superfluous packaging) and this will extend to our AV contract.

We need to work harder

This section of the website isn’t just dedicated to shouting about how great we are for doing what we should have been doing all along. We need to do better. We would love to hear from you on how you think we could improve.

Please email any suggestions to the event manager for this event and take a few moments to complete the post-event survey which will be emailed to you after the event day.


The event manager

Harry Bower
Harry.Bower@emap.com