The Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE) is going green in 2020, partnering with several sustainability-focused initiatives to reduce the waste produced at the event.
“The international coffee community is moving towards a sustainable future and it’s important for industry leading events like MICE to be at the forefront of change,” says Lauren Winterbottom, Show Director of MICE.
“We are proud to be showcasing some of Australia’s most innovative solutions to sustainability at MICE. We won’t just be promoting these services but actually using them to reduce the amount of waste produced at the event.”
Waste diversion service Reground, reusable cup manufacturer Huskee, and eco-friendly packaging solutions company Detpak will all operate modified versions of their services during the expo.
“There will be a lot of eyes on MICE this year. It’s a great opportunity for the expo to take a stance and announce that sustainability is a core pillar in the coffee industry,” says Kaitlin Reed, Commercial Director of Reground.
This is Reground’s first year officially partnering with MICE. The Melbourne-born company will supply its specially branded bins to collect coffee grounds, which will then be diverted to local compost facilities.
“Coffee grounds shouldn’t end up in landfill. People think they just go down into the soil but they don’t, so we are trying to shift the perception,” Kaitlin says.
Huskee will introduce an adjusted version of its HuskeeSwap to MICE2020. HuskeeSwap leverages the idea of a shared economy where people can use a reusable cup then drop it at a cleaning station to be commercially cleaned and resupplied into circulation.
“As a company, we are contributing thousands of cups to be used at MICE. After using their cup, consumers can drop them into one of our bins and our team will do all the work,” says Nicole Barnes, General Manager at Huskee.
Saving the environment from unrecyclable single-use plastic cups has also been a mission of Detpak. The company is a long-time supporter of MICE and launched its RecycleMe system at last year’s expo.
“The industry is heading towards reviewing all of the packaging coming in and out of cafés as they are the most visible waste streams in the industry,” says Tom Lunn, Group General Manager of Marketing and Innovation at Detpak.
“MICE is a globally renowned trade show. It’s great that the event is showing leadership and setting an example to the international specialty coffee industry.”
MICE2020 will take place from 4 to 7 May at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
For more information, visit www.internationalcoffeeexpo.com
