Sustainable future ahead for Ellerslie Events after securing Toitū certification

After 12 busy months developing a robust environmental management system, followed by a six hour audit, we are proud to announce we have secured a Toitū enviromark bronze certification for our venue here at Ellerslie.  

Ellerslie’s ‘Green Team’

“To get the process started we appointed what we coined as a ‘green team’ who have, over the past year, worked through and met all the requirements of the certification. We finally got the accreditation at the end of August, which was so pleasing and such a reward for all the hard work we had done,” says executive general manager of hospitality and events, Craig Fenwick.  

The Toitu certification programme is a three-tiered system that helps organisations to develop, review and improve their environmental performance through the implementation of an effective environmental system. For many Kiwi businesses it’s viewed as a sustainable badge of honour. 

“We decided a little while ago that we were doing a lot around our events business and racecourse that we thought was sustainable. We were telling people it was, but we didn’t have third party accreditation to confirm that. So, we went out looking for someone to give us that accreditation.” 

Fenwick says Bronze certification centres a lot around compliance, and there were a few hurdles to overcome to prove and ensure that we were running a compliant business. 

“You need to run a business that’s legal, you need to comply with council bylaws, health and safety, resource management, fire and emergency, waste management, environmental standards around hazardous chemicals, employment law, and so on. There were 18 sections of requirements to complete in order to achieve the Bronze certification. 

“Also, with us managing not only events, but a property business and racedays too, the certification was on a much bigger scale than your average business,” he adds.  

So what does bronze certification look like in practice at Ellerslie?  

“We’ve done a lot around waste management,” says Fenwick. “We’ve appointed Green Gorilla as our waste removal company as they have developed a sustainable recycling and waste solution that minimises landfill waste. We also prioritise recycling of our plastics, glassware and cardboard.  

“We removed a lot of our single use plastics and now use compostable cutlery and plates. Our focus for events and racedays is about reducing energy and water usage. From a racing perspective, a sustainable solution we came up with was to install a stormwater pond that now waters the track.” 

Fenwick says we have come a long way at Ellerslie Events but are always aiming to keep striving for better.  

“There are 10 members of the green team and we meet every month to discuss how we can do more. Even after we’ve just got the bronze accreditation, the journey continues.”  

“We’re also incredibly proud to be the first racecourse out of 53 in the country that’s secured Toitu accreditation. Our club cares about the planet, its people and the communities.” 

The next step is about maintaining the bronze status for another year, and then working towards achieving gold and diamond certification. 

“Going forward it’s all about putting more processes and sustainability initiatives in place. Then the following year we’ll get re-audited again in July, to make sure we still comply. After that we’ll look to step it up again.”