The Convention Industry Council’s Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) and ASTM International, a voluntary standards development organization, have partnered to define and set standards for what is “green” in the meetings and events industry.
The immediate goal of the co-sponsors is to organize stakeholders, NGOs and other interested groups to actively develop standards specifying environmental best prac¬tices associated with meetings, conferences and trade shows. According to a statement issued by CIC, the process in developing green standards was initiated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in discussions with the Green Meeting Industry Council. They agreed that there was a tremendous need in the meeting and event industry for a uniform measurement of environmental per¬formance.
“This is a great opportunity for industry and government to work collabora-tively on consistent standards,” said APEX Director Sue Tinnish in a statement announcing the agreement.
The Green Meetings and Events standards will go through ASTM’s committees and processes. Partici¬pants in the meetings and event industry will have the opportunity for comment during both the APEX and ASTM process.
