At the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show we are making a conscious effort to move towards a more sustainable event.
HOW WE MAKE THE SHOW MORE SUSTAINABLE
OTHER INITIATIVES IN PLACE
- We are taking steps to further improve the sustainable practices as the show and strongly discourage the use of floral foam within displays.
- In 2024, we are promoting the use of a digital show maps to reduce printing and landfill from disposed maps
- We are also creating a reusable map to reduce printing requirements and promote reuse
BIO GRO
We are pleased that Bio Gro, a family-owned Australian business, that actively contributes to the overall improvement of the environment is continuing its involvement with the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show in 2025. With their commitment to improving environmental outcomes and social impacts through a culture of continuous improvement and sustainable innovation, they more than meet the criteria of a Sustainability Partner.
Not only does Bio Gro provide mulch to many of the show gardens on display; they then divert the organic material from landfill by recovering it at the show’s conclusion. At last year’s Show, Bio Gro diverted an estimated 550m3 of organics from being sent to landfill by refining them into compost and mulch for reapplication to soils.
The recovered material is taken to Bio Gro’s facility in Dandenong South the material is preprocessed by removing contamination. It is then shredded before being loaded on trucks for transport to a second processing facility. Then the incoming organic material is blended with as many organic streams commercially available with the purpose of creating a cake of organic material. The material is pasteurised to prevent unwanted weeds from growing in the finished products.
The full potential of the organics resource stream is captured by processing and composting the material into a range of high-quality products tailored for the horticultural, viticultural, and landscape markets.
CLOSED LOOP
Closed Loop is a leading circular economy solution provider with over 20 years of experience. Since 2022, they have served as the show’s sustainable waste management team. Working with them demonstrates our shared commitment to reducing waste and improving our overall environmental impact.
By continuously refining strategies based on specific needs and insights, working with Closed Loop has allowed us to divert more waste from landfill each year.
In 2024, we achieved an impressive 86.5% diversion rate!
This success is made possible with the support of the Closed Loop team, who have:
- Customised their waste solutions to the show
- Identified multiple waste streams to divert from landfill and local solutions for them
- Hand-sorted all waste to maximise recovery
- Collected and recycled paper cups with Simply Cups. In 2024, 90,000 paper cups were recycled, which when stacked end to end, is 3.6 times the perimeter of Royal Exhibition Building’s garden.
- Educated exhibitors with a comprehensive guide on materials and waste streams
- Engaged attendees through interactive educational sessions on waste diversion and resource recovery
- Provided additional circular economy solutions and recommendations
- Converted eligible containers through CDS VIC into donations for Beyond Blue
Going to the show? Look out for Closed Loop Sustainability Educators who will be in green high-vis vests to learn more about sustainability at the show.
