Between quick wins & foresight

Corridor rugs? Not an absolute necessity. At both SMM and WindEnergy Hamburg, HMC did away with disposable corridor rugs for the first time last year. This cut the accumulated volume of waste by 15 tonnes while reducing resource use. Another first at both fairs: In a pilot project, visitor tickets purchased online included the trips to and from the exhibition campus, creating a key incentive to minimise mobility-related emissions during events. 

Sustainability is not only an integral part of HMC’s strategic guidelines but also an expanding process that keeps growing new roots, evolving and ultimately, bearing fruit. 

Such “fruits” from 2024 include: Company trainees taking part in the Energy Scouts qualification initiative at the Hamburg Chamber Of Commerce came up with the idea to green the façades of the exhibition halls to reduce energy consumption, winning second prize in the competition while securing participation in the Federal award ceremony in Berlin in June 2025. Birthday cards and payslips are no longer printed out on paper but distributed in digital form only; and instead of bottled water dispensers, staff tea kitchens are equipped with sparkling water makers. These measures aim to drive sustainability of everyday office routines. But most of all, the HMC Sustainability Department (two full-time employees, one work student, and temporarily, a trainee specialising in sustainable events) have been working on integrating sustainability with the core responsibilities of the specialist departments in areas such as event organisation or event-related content, based on the HMC Sustainability Strategy passed in 2023.

Furthermore, HMC appointed equity, diversity and inclusion officers in 2024 for the first time. In March, a Sustainability Manager (Climate Specialist) took office to prepare the 2024 greenhouse gas balance sheet as required for all public sector organisations of the City of Hamburg. Furthermore, HMC began implementing its integrated sustainability management system by identifying and modelling key management, core and support processes and holding alignment workshops with leaders. “For example, we established a Sustainability Circle that builds expertise and generates synergies with other sustainability activities. This puts sustainability on the permanent agenda of every department,” reports Sustainability Manager Hannah Kindler. HMC also kicked off its climate strategy towards the 2040 climate goals. 

Since the beginning of 2025, the strategic focus has been shifting towards new, circular services. Other current activities include finalising the greenhouse gas balance sheet and driving diversity and circular economy integration. Says Hannah Kindler: “In times of global challenges, both the challenges and the opportunities for further sustainable development are growing. We are looking forward to harvesting many more fruits of our efforts.”