How we made our sustainable ambition a reality during La Vuelta Holanda 2022

Last year, Royal Jaarbeurs had the honour of being the official start location of the first stage of the team time trial during La Vuelta Holanda 2022. We were proud to host such a fantastic event and all the more so because, like us, La Vuelta Holanda attaches great importance to being eco-friendly. And that helped us sprint forward in a sustainable way together.

La Vuelta Holanda 2022 was the world's very first cycling event to organise a Green Caravan. The traditional advertising caravan, which precedes major cycling tours, in this case consisted only of sustainable vehicles with an environmentally friendly message. In line with our goal of becoming the most sustainable event and conference venue in Europe, this is how we are sprinting towards a sustainable future together. 

Happy to do our part for the green character of the Tour of Spain, we aimed to get as close as possible to a carbon-neutral event in all operations, logistics and organisation. In doing do, we made sustainable choices in terms of:

• De VIP-Hospitality
• Corporate branding
• Catering on Jaarbeurs Square and in Hall 1
• Waste processing

The VIP Hospitality

In addition to Jaarbeurs being the official start and finish location of the first stage of the team time trial, we also facilitated the international press centre, the Village Départ and the VIP hospitality programme. Around 1500 guests from various companies enjoyed a fun and interesting programme all afternoon in our restaurant Speys and had a front row place at the starting line to witness the cycling race from up close.

Sustainable options were also chosen when it came to disposables for the catering. For instance, we used eco-friendly palm leaf plates for the food stations and trucks, and where possible we chose for attractive stainless steel cutlery, glassware and biodegradable cups.

“Sustainable palm leaf plates, stainless steel cutlery and drinks in biodegradable cups”

Corporate branding

To give La Vuelta some more colour and, of course, show our pride as a partner, stickers and banners were adapted in various places on our building. We opted for a slogan with a sustainable message that we could continue to use after La Vuelta, allowing the banners to remain in place even after the event.

Catering on Jaarbeurs Square and Hall 1

For outdoor catering, we used only compostable cardboard and napkins. All drinks were dispensed in PET bottles with a deposit, with the proceeds donated to the Princess Máxima Centre.

A large plastic bottle was placed at the Moments location and at the bar into which people could deposit their PET bottles. These bottles went to the warehouse, where we gathered all the plastic in bulk. We had this collected and again the proceeds were donated to our partner, the Princess Máxima Centre.

The recyclable cups were made from rPET. This material is considered to be one of the most eco-friendly packaging materials on the market.

“For the cups, we used rPET material - one of the most environmentally friendly packaging materials on the market.”  

Waste processing

A total of 22 duo bins for general waste were positioned on the edge of the Jaarbeurs site, at P1, P3 and the boulevard and near the catering areas on the Croeselaan/Jaarbeursplein. We also placed three 1,100-litre containers at each of the Jaarbeurs catering areas for waste separation.

Fun fact! Did you know that Utrecht is now the only city in the world to have hosted all major cycling tours? Previously, a stage of the Giro d'Italia finished in Utrecht and the Tour de France also started in the city once. The trilogy was completed with the arrival of La Vuelta Holanda.

Our sustainable ambition

These are great steps we can take to make events more eco-friendly. Read more about how we aim to achieve our ambition to become 'Europe's most sustainable conference and event venue'.