Sustainability Stories

At Coda, sustainability and the environmental impact of everything we do, is front of mind.

We acknowledge that hosting in-person events generates carbon emissions, so we are proud to work with KPMG to help make #Coda22 certified Carbon Neutral through Climate Active.

Becoming certified as carbon neutral is a detailed process which involves measuring our emissions from electricity, to food and beverage, waste, travel and water usage.

Where possible, we have made conscious decisions to reduce emissions at every turn in the planning process. However, for the emissions that are unavoidable, we have offset these pre-event.

We are grateful for KPMG’s support in helping us make this happen.

Coda22 has officially be certified as a carbon neutral event by Climate Active.

Sustainability has been front of mind throughout the entire event planning process. Becoming carbon neutral was the pathway consistent with our mission.

In addition to saving money (by avoiding things like printed collateral on site), the most significant benefit has been the collaboration achieved between stakeholders.

All suppliers have worked together throughout the development of this event to reduce emissions where possible. By considering things such as the entire lifecycle of products, sourcing local materials, avoiding interstate freight, and increasing awareness within teams, we have all played a part in making this event carbon neutral.

We have partnered with South Pole to compensate for our impact by offsetting our emissions.

Our chosen offsetting project is the Infravest Tongyuan Wind Farm, a renewable energy project in Taiwan which avoids emissions by reducing reliance on fossil fuels. We have also chosen to protect local Australian biodiversity by investing in the Myamyn conservation project which protects Victoria’s ancient forests.

Our climate action partner South Pole is generously supporting us to increase our collective impact. They will support our chosen projects by purchasing additional carbon credits on behalf of CODA delegates that visit their booth at the event. They will offset an amount equivalent to the average emissions of a CODA delegate – on top of what we have already offset under our Climate Active certification – enabling us to create even more positive impacts with the climate action projects we’re supporting.

Visit the South Pole booth to help us boost our impact and to learn more about carbon offsetting and climate action from their experts

We are aware that exhibitions notoriously produce a lot of waste post-event.

That’s why – we didn’t settle until we found a cool, innovative option for our sponsor printed banners. 

These banners are printed without the Coda logo so that sponsors can re-use them at other events. We encourage all sponsors to pack their banner up and take them with them post-event. 

But for those who do not take their banners – we have partnered with our supplier to send the banners back post-event to be used as mattress fillings. No post event production – re-used as is, as mattress fillings. How cool is that?!

You might have noticed that you don’t have a name badge & lanyard?!

Instead, you have a sustainable wristband!

Our Coda22 wristbands are made from a 100% post-consumer recycled polyester content (R.P.E.T.) sourced from recycled plastic bottles. They feature a eco-friendly sliding closure made from 50% sustainable bamboo (shell) and 50% recycled plastic (secure lock).

What’s more – if you don’t want to keep your wristband, hand them in to Urban Upcycle.

After Coda22, Urban Upcycle will take the wristbands along to their education sessions which they hold in schools, kindergartens & early learning centres. The children are given the opportunity to create their own masterpiece using these materials.

It’s all about planting the sustainable living seed! 

The days of standing around the water cooler and churning through single-use cups are over! The good news is, you can still have those classic water cooler chats with your colleagues at Coda22 without producing huge amounts of waste. 

We’ve teamed up with Wallop Water to remove the need for single-use cups and bottles, instead offering a free water-filling station for your reusable bottles.

The Wallop Water bar provides attendees with clean, filtered water which everyone can return to as many times as they like throughout the event. 

We all know the best way to recharge throughout 4 action-packed days of Coda…COFFEE! 

To ensure that you can get your caffeine fix whilst still keeping the planet in mind, we’ve set up an Eco cafe especially for Coda22!

All furniture used at the cafe is made from 100% recycled materials, and will be re-used once Coda is finished. 

This range is the beginning of Harry the Hirer’s post-industrial and post-consumer ‘closed-loop’ furniture products that are an ongoing initiative. 

So you can enjoy your coffee on a table that has saved plastic from landfill!

But wait…there’s more!

Each year in Australia 1 billion takeaway cups are being sent to landfill. This is why the Eco Cafe at Coda22 will offer to serve your coffee in an EDIBLE cup!

The Good-Edi cup provides a sustainable and eco-friendly choice when opting for a single-use takeaway cup. Each one is made of 100% edible oats & grains and is 100% vegan friendly. Proudly made in Melbourne, the Good-Edi cup is healthy, nutritious and tasty – not to mention being far better for the planet than single-use cups!

Bet you’ve never EATEN your coffee before.

We know how important it is to stay connected to your work & social networks, even when you’re having a ball at Coda!

So, we’ve done what we can to ensure that you can always keep your devices charged – but not necessarily via the conventional methods. 

Our friends from Eco Renewable Energy will allow you to top up your phone & laptop batteries without the need for energy-draining power plugs. Instead, you can charge your device yourself – by pedalling away on the WeWatt energy-generating bikes!

Grab a friend or colleague, pull up at a bike station and chat about your favourite Coda moments while you top up your devices. 

You can’t get the most out of your Coda22 workshops & sessions on an empty stomach!

This is why we’ve made sure that our attendees will always be well-fed with some of the best food Melbourne has to offer. And not only is our menu delicious, it’s also full of ingredients that are sourced locally!

The MCEC ‘100 Mile Menu’ features dishes which have been sourced from local Victorian farms & markets which are all within 100 miles (161kms) of our venue. The only exception are the pescatarian options which are sourced outside 100 miles (in the ocean!). 

Choosing the ‘100 Mile Menu’ means that we are supporting Victorian food producers whilst also reducing our carbon footprint. 

All Coda T-Shirts are made from 100% organic cotton.

Etiko prides itself on providing environmentally-friendly, organic products which are ethically made. They are on track for net-zero across their entire supply chain and for those carbon emissions which are unavoidable, they purchase carbon credits from Timor-Leste via Carbon Social, who work with subsistence farmers in Baguia to replant trees, improve livelihoods and build village economies.

Etiko are B Corp certified, meaning that they meet the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability in Australia.

Their products are cruelty-free, meaning they use no animals or animal glues in their apparel, and as a result, they are reducing the carbon footprint that comes from animal agriculture.

Basically, these t-shirts are about as sustainable as they can get and were hand-selected with this in mind.

It takes a lot of people power and supplies to put on an event like Coda22! 

With large-scale events like this, often items and suppliers have to be brought in from across the country (and sometimes even from overseas). Getting supplies produced remotely & transported long distances generates harmful emissions and contributes heavily to the overall carbon footprint of the event.

This is why Coda has made an effort to use local suppliers wherever possible to produce any essential event items. This limits the amount of mileage to be covered to bring supplies to the venue and reduces any need for air or sea travel.  

Not to mention, it means we get the chance to support all of the wonderful local businesses in Victoria!

What’s more? All of our accommodation, sessions & social functions are within walking distance of the MCEC & this is no accident.

Having all components so close together has reduced the need for any kind of motorised transport. 

No transport means no vehicle emissions and an overall eco-friendly event.

We love that our sponsors care as much about the climate as we do!

When sponsoring an event or presenting at an expo like the one we have at Coda, it’s common to see organisations print tangible collateral to communicate their valuable messages.

For Coda22, we have asked our sponsors to avoid using printed and/or physical collateral, and instead utilise our event app to showcase their amazing services & products.

What’s more? We have avoided printing event collateral, such as programs, and have said no to the satchel bag. All information you need, can be found on the Coda22 app. 

We know everyone loves a Photo Booth – but, in the name of sustainability, you have to dance for it.

This Photo Booth captures kinetic energy from dancing, jumping & walking, to charge it up until it’s ready to take a photo!

Capturing the power from human movement, this Photo Booth is truly unique.

Choosing the MCEC for Coda22 was no accident.

The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre is the first convention centre in the world to be awarded the 6-Star Green Star environmental rating by the Green Building Council of Australia. They strive to be leaders in sustainable business practice and have achieved some impressive milestones so far:

• Between 2015 and 2019 MCEC reduced their carbon emissions by 22 per cent per m2.
• They’ve installed 36 permanent ‘food cubes’, growing herbs, citrus & flowers to supply their menus.
• In 2018-19 they diverted 62 per cent of all waste from landfill using 17 waste streams.
• In 2019 they harvested over 3,100 kilolitres of rainwater and consumed 445 litres of water per m2 – an industry best.

But, MCEC isn’t stopping there. They have set ambitious targets for the next few years including:

• To eliminate unnecessary and problematic single-use plastics and divert 90 per cent of waste from landfill by 2025.
• To be 100 per cent powered by renewable electricity by 2028.
• & to reduce their net carbon emissions to zero by 2030.

As far as sustainable venues go – the MCEC was a no-brainer for our Coda22 event.

Bike n’ Blend your own smoothie!

Ready to pedal hard?

Bike n’ Blend is a pop up events activation that promotes cycling, sustainability, health and happiness using Australian made blender bikes.

What’s more? They use washable or biodegradable cups, offset their carbon emissions and compost or recycle all waste produced.

Enjoy a smoothie on us with Bike n’ Blend

We all like to dress our best when meeting with special guests, right? Well, we want our Coda22 expo to be styled to impress & make you say “WOW” upon your arrival!

Decorating the expo space would typically require a large amount of printed & branded signage which can create excessive waste. 

To style the expo in a more sustainable way, we’ve turned to the power of plants to bring the vibes! Using an array of natural plants as our expo decorations not only creates a stunning visual feel, but also reduces the need for printed signage.

Take a stroll through the extra-green expo space and see what our Coda partners have to offer!   

Whatever goes un-eaten, goes to OzHarvest.

Founded in 2004 after noticing the huge volume of food going to waste, OzHarvest quickly grew to become Australia’s leading food rescue organisation. 

How does the MCEC x OzHarvest partnership work?

In the 2020/21 financial year MCEC recovered more than 17 tonnes of food waste through meal donations to OzHarvest and onsite organic waste processing.

As of 1 June 2022, a total of 2,134 kg of good quality surplus food, have already been rescued from MCEC and donated to OzHarvest this year alone! 

What’s more? If you are staying at the Crowne Plaza or Holiday Inn – then you are in for a treat!

For every night booked at these hotels in September, IHG will donate two meals to OzHarvest. So rest easy, knowing you’ve made a difference just by your choice of accommodation! 

Coda Earth is an international collaboration with a bold mission: to make healthcare more sustainable. 

Over the past few months, we have released a series of initiatives that everyone can take to help make a difference. 

Starting with the important steps of committing to change & examining your own individual footprint, Coda Earth is designed to take you on a journey to a more sustainable future. 

This was followed by three specific, yet achievable actions: Reducing unnecessary test ordering in pathology, stewardship over the use of pressurised metered dose inhalers & decreasing greenhouse gas emissions in anaesthesia. 

We are pleased that to date – over 100 people have signed up to Coda Earth! Join the journey, by signing up and completing the first step today.

The atmosphere is definitely electric at Coda22, and thankfully there’s no need to shut that kind of electricity off! However, electricity also plays a big role in powering many aspects of our event – this is why decisions have been made at every step to use it in the most conscious way.

In 2018 the MCEC joined 13 other reputable Melbourne organisations to support the development of a wind farm in regional Victoria. This agreement has enabled the venue to offset the entire electricity use of the 20,000 square metre expansion space with renewable energy. This is equivalent to 15 per cent of the entire venue’s electricity consumption.

Another reason we chose to have the MCEC host Coda 22 was their Energy Management System (EMS).  Installed in 2016, the MCEC’s Energy Management System, complete with variable speed drives & a C02 monitoring system, has resulted in a 30 percent reduction in energy use since 2016.

Even when the time comes to let our hair down, we still don’t forget about the planet!

The Coda Party is no doubt one of the highlights of Coda22, and you can feel guilt-free as you dance the night away knowing that we’ve made the party as sustainable as possible. 

Environmentally-friendly operational procedures are in place for the Coda Party, including:

• Using reusable service ware including ceramic plates, steel cutlery, and glass refillable water bottles to eliminate single-use items
• Using an eWater Hygiene System to reduce the requirement for use of harmful chemicals when cleaning service ware
• Using an Enrich 360 Machine to turn food waste into fertilizer using enrich 360 certified dehydration machines. The fertilizer is returned to the farmers and then given back to the soil

Harry the Hirer are our exhibition build partners – supplying everything from sponsor booths, to carpet, to lighting & furniture.

So, it was super important to us to ensure that we choose carefully when selecting our exhibition partner.

Luckily, Harry the Hirer are a leader in the industry for their sustainability practices.

Harry the Hirer’s goal in 2020 was to reduce waste to landfill by finding alternatives to protective plastic bags, plastic stretch wrap and foam packaging for their event-hire furniture range. 

The outcome of this initiative is the introduction of chair bags and stretch wrap made from 100% landfill biodegradable plastic which contains 30-50% post-industrial recycled content. These items are completely safe to biodegrade naturally, or can be completely recycled.

They also introduced a paper-based alternative to Celair (protective foam packaging). This paper based alternative offers similar protective qualities to its plastic-foam predecessor, but is made from recycled Kraft paper and is 100% recyclable and completely biodegradable.

This packaging was used for all of the furniture and equipment you see around the exhibition today. 

Critically, the introduction of these biodegradable alternatives will save 113 cubic metres of waste annually that would normally end up in landfill.

An additional benefit is reduced emissions from freight as the new biodegradable products create less volume when packaged – for example, they get 250 of the new bags to a roll versus 100 of the old plastic bags, a 30% reduction in volume. That equates to a reduction of 34 cubic metres of product contributing to emissions from transport.

Some pretty impressive initiatives from Harry the Hirer! 

Coda22’s Event Partner: The Association Specialists

TAS are members of “Net Zero Carbon Events”, and have signed a Net Zero Carbon Pledge for the Events Industry which is a global industry initiative to address climate change. This pledge acknowledges that there is an urgent need to accelerate the transition towards global net zero emissions, and for the events industry to play its part in helping to deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The Association Specialists has committed to support the goal of net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, in line with global efforts set out by the Paris Agreement to limit warming to 1.5°C and reduce total global GHG emissions by 50% by 2030, and to actively promote and advocate for industry efforts throughout the value chain.

In pursuit of this aim, TAS has undertaken to:

1. Before the end of 2023, publish the organisation’s pathway to achieve net zero by 2050 at the latest, with an interim target in line with the Paris Agreement’s requirement to reduce global GHG emissions by 50% by 2030

2. Collaborate with partners, suppliers and customers to drive change across the value chain

3. Measure and track our Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions according to industry best practice

4. Report on our progress at least every two years

TAS were the best choice when it came to selecting a sustainable focused Event Partner.

We have chosen one of the world’s most sustainable cities to host Coda22!

The City of Melbourne is proud to be part of a local and international movement of cities that will act to reduce emissions and to address climate change impacts. Last year, City of Melbourne consulted with climate change experts and the community to develop a Climate Change Mitigation Strategy to 2050. 

Some elements of this strategy include:

• Transitioning to a low-carbon city to enable Victoria to achieve its target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050
• Improving energy, water and waste performance of buildings through environmentally sustainable development and energy efficiency upgrades
• Facilitating the uptake of renewable energy technologies
• Reducing the likelihood and consequences of natural hazard events
• Requiring climate change risks to be considered in infrastructure planning
• Supporting a cooler Melbourne by greening urban areas, buildings, transport corridors and open spaces to create an urban forest

https://teleflex.com/anz/en/about-us/csr/

Our friends at BD recognise that electronic waste is a rapidly growing global problem. 

While e-waste recycling of medical devices hasn’t taken off widely yet in Australia & New Zealand, BD are on the cusp of change. They are determined to be a local market leader in tackling environmental and social governance issues, with e-waste recycling of medical devices being one of their core focus areas.

BD’s exhibition booth at Coda 22 gives attendees the opportunity to discuss BD’s corporate sustainability goals and local recycling opportunities that all members of the healthcare community can be a part of. 

Did you know that 35,000 TONNES of medical waste are sent to landfill from Victoria’s Hospitals alone?

Blugibbon Medical Recruitment has partnered with Medical Pantry to rescue excess medical supplies from hospitals and donate it to underserved communities. 

Throughout the days of Coda 22, Blugibbon will be collecting all unused medical waste and donating it to the Medical Pantry after the expo. 

Chat to the Blugibbon team at their exhibition booth to find out how you can play your part in reducing medical waste unnecessarily going to landfill. You can also WIN PRIZES including a Garmin Fenix 7S (solar-powered watch)!

Fujifilm has been implementing climate change measures under their “Sustainable Value Plan”. This plan aims to resolve social issues through business activities and give environmental and social considerations in business processes. 

CO2 emissions have been steadily reduced across the Fujifilm Group through developing environmentally conscious products and services, while adopting energy-efficient manufacturing facilities. 

In July 2020, the previous target of “reducing CO2 emissions across the entire product life cycle by 30% by FY2030” was raised to 45% reduction. Fujifilm achieved 41% reduction in the 2020 financial year.

The environment is one of Fujifilm’s four priority areas. It addresses climate change, promotes recycling of resources, addresses energy issues toward a decarbonized society and ensures product & chemical safety.

GE Healthcare believes that the advancement of precision health, digitisation of healthcare & increased access to quality care, whilst reducing the impact on precious and rare resources, are core for a healthier world.

They are committed to preserving the environment and sustaining the planet.

2030: Committed to 50% reduction in their own operational emissions. GE Healthcare has established an Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) governance team, focused to deliver on their commitment to reduce emissions by at least 50% by 2030, versus a 2019 baseline.

2050: Achieve net zero, as an active participant in the UN-backed “Race to Zero”

Carbon-intensive specialties, including anaesthesia, routinely inhale potent greenhouse gases. Gases such as these are expelled directly into the atmosphere after being used by patients. They contribute to global warming by accumulating in the atmosphere. Find out about how Carestation Insights Agent Cost Dashboard, which can help hospitals drive low flow protocols via theatre visibility in connecting FGF rates, and AMSORB Plus, GE Healthcare’s premium CO₂ absorber, are especially designed for low-flow anaesthesia.