Academic venues

If sustainability is important to you when planning an event, choosing the right type of venue can make all the difference. As an academic venue, we have adopted Imperial College London’s Campus-wide Sustainability Strategy, which is driven by a bold vision to reach carbon neutrality by 2040, whilst stepping-up to provide the solutions, collaborations and skills necessary to support the UK government’s target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

We have implemented a number of initiatives to ensure we are continually improving the sustainability of our operations and to support you reach your green objectives too!

Catering

We work with our suppliers to ensure that food and drink are sourced responsibly, limiting food miles where possible and considering the environmental impact of certain foods. We also aim to increase consumer awareness of the environmental impact of food and drink.

Initiatives include:

• Limiting the amount of meat and dairy products used across the College by creating innovative menus that promote meat-free meals.
• Moving to venison. The College has pledged to remove all beef products from our menus by 2025-26, due to the huge carbon footprint it takes to produce.
• Working with suppliers to ensure that all fish served is Marine Stewardship Council certified and to reduce the use of unsustainable catering supplies.
• Introducing more water fountains to encourage the use of refillable drinks containers.

Travel

We aim to promote climate conscious travel among our clients and guests. The College have introduced a Sustainable Travel Policy to support this mission. Our central location offers a host of accessible and sustainable transport links including trains, buses and bicycles. Our Clients, staff and guests are encouraged to leave their cars behind and to reduce their carbon footprint by opting for more sustainable travel options.

Initiatives include:

• Providing innovative audio-visual and video conferencing tools to support hybrid events, allowing guests to avoid air travel.
• Promoting the use of public transport and active travel, including improved cycle facilities. The College also seeks to engage with local councils to identify opportunities for improvements to active transport in the local area.
• We offer 3D virtual tours of the majority of our event and accommodation spaces, reducing the amount of unnecessary travel to and from campus and allowing you to preview all our spaces from the convenience of your office or home.

Waste management

Work has already begun on the reduction and responsible management of waste arising from our activities. We have replaced single-use plastic items such as, platter trays, disposable films and stirrers and sachets, with reusable or recyclable alternatives.

 Initiatives include:  

• Reducing waste sent to landfill by improving efficiencies and reusing and recycling materials, where possible.
• Sending all food waste to the Rothenburg Unit. The Rothenburg Unit is a food storage tank that macerates the food into a liquid and then stores it. Once the tank is full the food waste is taken to an anaerobic digestion plant where electricity is generated. Sending food waste for anaerobic digestion contributes to reducing the amount of waste sent to incineration and lowers the College’s carbon footprint.

• Our ‘Bin the Bin’ initiative aims to reduce the amount of waste by improving the quality and volume of recycled material. Red, green, blue and black bins are available across campus to encourage the correct separation of glass, paper and mixed recycling, reducing the need for additional sorting, transportation and energy use.

Energy usage

The College aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. To meet this deadline, it has initiated a series of ambitious targets which include:

• Reducing total carbon emissions arising from energy consumption by 15% by 2025–26 against the baseline year 2018–19.
• Continuing the South Kensington Campus decarbonisation project. The decarbonisation project will replace two heat networks with just one, increasing energy efficiency and reducing the College’s carbon footprint by 2,400 tonnes each year.
• Assessing the options available to increase on-campus renewable energy generation.
• Continuing to procure 100% of bought-in electricity through a Renewable Energy Guarantees Origin (REGO) backed tariff.
• Upgrading and enhancing existing building services infrastructure to improve sustainability and energy performance.

Our commitment to sustainability is considered in every aspect of our operations and has resulted in a reduction in waste, carbon emissions, single-use plastics and dairy products. Holding your event with Celesta Venues, directly contributes to funding world-leading sustainability research at Imperial and supports our overall mission of creating a greener events industry for all.

To take a tour of our event spaces or to discuss your specific requirements, please get in touch with our team.

Find out more about Imperial’s Sustainability Strategy.