Despite being Singapore’s largest venue, Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre (Sands Expo) has invested a huge amount in reusing and sustaining its resources. The resort has reduced its overall carbon footprint by 24.4% since 2014, and taking a glance at the initiatives it has employed, it’s easy to see why: with solar panels and electric vehicles, anaerobic waste digesters and rainwater harvesters, biodiversity collaborations and self-closing bathroom taps, the resort has gone above and beyond the usual laundry list of sustainability strategies.
Since 2013, Sands Expo has diverted over 9.7m kg of food waste from landfill. It has achieved this through anaerobic digesters & range of food waste technology converting food waste into nutrient rich grey water and insect feed. With delayed action, self-closing taps and flow regulators in public restrooms, Sands Expo supported the resort in saving over 7 million litres of water in 2025.
Sands Expo’s green efforts go beyond Singapore. In collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the resort has instigated the planting of over 20,000 mangrove trees in Sarawak, Malaysia, in a bid to spread sustainability initiatives beyond the southeast Asian archipelago.
In terms of official strategy, Sands Expo has its own sustainability programme, Impact Meetings, under its parent company’s overall strategy Sands ECO360. The strategy has three Areas of Focus – Building Design and Development, Resort Management and Operations and Meetings, Events and Entertainment. These pillars shed further light on the initiatives Sands Expo has implemented:
- Uses food waste processing technology to transform food waste into greywater or high-calorific output for fish feed at a local aquaponics farm
- The Sands Expo building is LEED-rated Platinum (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) – the first to achieve the accreditation in Asia Pacific
- Donates large volumes excess food to local charities
- Uses smart-monitoring to analyse each event’s footprint, such as energy usage
- Offers detailed post-event impact statements upon request
- Uses regionally and locally-sourced, fresh ingredients in its menu, including plant-based options
- Uses innovative circular décor options that can be reused, recycled or planted
Sands Expo is fully carbon offset and is triple platinum-rated by leading bodies with certifications from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Building and Construction Authority (BCA), Event Industry Council (EIC) and ISO 20121 for event sustainability management.
Near the entrance, visitors will find the Rain Oculus – an artwork and sustainable water feature that recycles rainwater in a large vortex.
The resort has adopted a $37m “intelligent building management system”, whereby it monitors over 125,000 data points to optimise its energy usage, water, air quality and general operational efficiency. Over 98% of its vehicles have been transitioned to electric, and 536 solar panels have been installed on top of the SkyPark Infinity Pool.
As the sector increasingly incorporates digitalisation, Sands Expo has invested in initiatives to support hybrid events through a series of tech tools:
- Hybrid features: works with organisers to provide hybrid interactive tools such as live blogs, polls, Q&A sessions and surveys
- Virtual meeting “space”: Sands Expo has launched a platform called Virtual Meeting Place, an industry-first tool that allows delegates to visit a virtual mirror of the real-life event.
- Hybrid Broadcast Studio: The resort has also created a Hybrid Broadcast Studio, which turns its events into visual spectacles.
- Holograms: allows organisers to turn offsite speakers into dynamic holograms for interactive sessions
With this state-of-the-art technology, Sands Expo stands out as one of the most sustainable venues in Asia Pacific and the world. To learn more, visit the Sands Expo sustainability page.
The Rain Oculus, recycling water and drawing crowds
The resort has adopted a $37m “intelligent building management system”, whereby it monitors over 125,000 data points to optimise its energy usage, water, air quality and general operational efficiency. Over 98% of its vehicles have been transitioned to electric, and 536 solar panels have been installed on top of the SkyPark Infinity Pool.
As the sector increasingly incorporates digitalisation, Sands Expo has invested in initiatives to support hybrid events through a series of tech tools:
- Hybrid features: works with organisers to provide hybrid interactive tools such as live blogs, polls, Q&A sessions and surveys
- Virtual meeting “space”: Sands Expo has launched a platform called Virtual Meeting Place, an industry-first tool that allows delegates to visit a virtual mirror of the real-life event.
- Hybrid Broadcast Studio: The resort has also created a Hybrid Broadcast Studio, which turns its events into visual spectacles.
- Holograms: allows organisers to turn offsite speakers into dynamic holograms for interactive sessions
With this state-of-the-art technology, Sands Expo stands out as one of the most sustainable venues in Asia Pacific and the world. To learn more, visit the Sands Expo sustainability page.
Source: www.exhibitionworld.co.uk
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