PDAC takes pride in consistently improving its environmental stewardship. For PDAC 2025, we've elevated our commitment to sustainability, emphasizing both waste reduction and energy conservation.

Reducing waste

We’ve cut down on paper waste by over 10,000 pounds by streamlining the Convention Program. But not to worry, full event information including floors plans, program schedules and more can be found on the the website. Attendees who favour printed materials will find our streamlined Schedule at a Glance and Exhibitor List & Floorplan Guide available throughout the venue.

Recycling the “unrecyclable”

We’re investing in TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Box program to ensure all our foam signage, badge holders, lanyards, and related materials stay out of the landfill. TerraCycle “recycles the unrecyclable” by developing solutions for materials not typically locally recyclable.

Renewable energy

PDAC offsets the Convention’s greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing renewable energy. Bullfrog Power ensures that for every kWh of electricity used, a kWh of pollution-free, renewable source energy is put back into the grid on our behalf.

Exhibitor Toolkit

We encourage our exhibitors to implement sustainability best practices in the creation and management of their booths. Sustainability guidelines are listed on page 29 of the Exhibitor Toolkit.

The Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC)

PDAC is proud to partner with the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC), which continuously implements innovative and effective sustainability measures. MTCC initiatives include:

Waste diversion

MTCC redirects 90% of the waste produced in the facility from landfills. In 2019/20, they diverted or recycled almost one million kilograms of waste.


Energy conservation

The MTCC conserves energy by incorporating LED lighting in a large portion of the North Building and by implementing energy conservation guidelines that all departments follow. In the North Building alone, they recently changed 3,886 bulbs to LED, which saves 565,852.20 KW-hr of electricity per year.


Deep water cooling

The facility was the first in Toronto to be on Enwave Energy’s Deep Lake Water Cooling system. This unique system uses cold water extracted from Lake Ontario to cool the South Building, allowing for a significant reduction in GHG emissions & electrical consumption.


Green roof

The South Building is home to a seven-acre green space, complete with a park for public enjoyment. The green roof reduces energy consumption, cooling costs, and creates an overall beautiful city space.


Rooftop bees

The MTCC operate six beehives on the roof of the South Building. Each hive is home to 50,000 bees which help support the preservation of essential pollinators in our city and produces delicious honey for the venue’s culinary team.


Local procurement

The MTCC supports local farms and businesses by purchasing local ingredients in large volume. A 100% of the wine they offer and 65% of all food and beverage items purchased by the centre is locally sourced. This includes more than 75% of all meat, fish and dairy. Buying local helps sustain farmland, supports farmers and provides a high-quality culinary offering for attendees.


Food donation

To help those in need and to reduce food waste, the MTCC operates a food donation program which provides food to local organizations including TDSB’s Student Nutrition Program, Daily Bread Food Bank, Second Harvest, and Margaret’s Housing and Community Support Services. They’ve donated over 371,500 meals, and counting, to food rescue organizations in Toronto.


Move in and out

MTCC was the first convention centre in North America to partner with Voyage Control to reduce traffic and carbon monoxide emissions in the local area. This is accomplished by eliminating idle time in of all vehicles in the parking lots and those carrying exhibitor materials. Instead of having to wait at the marshalling yard, exhibitors schedule a time to deliver materials directly to the facility. Ask our Exhibits Team about Voyage Control for more information.

Fairmont Royal York Hotel
 

PDAC is excited to partner with the Fairmont Royal York for many of our events. The hotel continuously implements impressive sustainability measures, including:

Zero carbon building

The Fairmont Royal York has achieved the status of a Zero Carbon Building – Performance Standard certification by the Canada Green Building Council (CAGBC). In Canada and North America, the hotel is the largest heritage hotel to operate as a zero carbon building. This project reduced the building’s carbon emissions by over 7,000 tonnes every year (comparable to taking 1,558 cars off the road).

Energy management: Heating and cooling

The hotel uses Toronto’s Deep Lake Water Cooling system. In this way, cooling of the building is provided through the use of cool water from deep in Lake Ontario, replacing centrifugal chillers. Heating and hot water comes from an electric heat pump installation plant allowing the decommissioning of the legacy steam systems. Along with other innovations in energy management systems, the hotel optimizes efficiency and removes 80% of direct emissions from building operations.

Water management

The hotel uses a commercial water softener that reduces water use in the laundry to one wash and one rinse per cycle, saving 476,000 liters of water per day (which is enough water to supply 500 homes daily).

Rooftop garden

The rooftop garden delivers a pocket of lush green in the skyline. It’s a connection to the natural world in the city, and allows for many building benefits including:

  • Rooftop honeybees

    Established in 2008, the rooftop apiary was the world’s first home for honeybees atop a city hotel. The hives contain 600,000 honeybees who are crucial pollinators for the health of crops, flowers, and biodiversity. An average of 450lbs of honey is produced in these hives every year, and is used throughout the hotel.

  • Herb garden

    The rooftop herb garden produces 45 different varieties of herbs that are harvested by the hotel chefs for use in their kitchens and cocktails experiences.

Local and sustainable food sourcing

The Fairmont Royal York draws from local, organic farms whenever possible. They focus their sourcing on producers within 100km of the hotel. This allows for high-quality ingredients, reduced waste, and supports the health of Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe agricultural region. The seafood used at the hotel is OceanWise certified and sustainably sourced.

Food waste reduction

Food waste in travel and hospitality is a serious issue. The Fairmont Royal York have set a target of reducing food waste by 60% by 2030. Some initiatives to make this possible include:

  • Using the Orbisk technology platform to sort and track food waste with AI, including image recognition cameras and advanced waste stream management
  • Oscar Sort, the intelligent sorting system, leverages Intuitive AI to help the hotel team separate food waste properly and efficiently in the course of service operations
  • Be One to Give captures unavoidable food waste and redistributes it to communities in need
  • Civil Pours Spent Citrus repurposes used citrus peels from cocktails
  • Partnerships with local farmers and producers reduce wastage from travel

Plastic waste reduction

Plastic waste is a prevalent and a growing issue for the world. The hotel is working to reduce plastic waste through these initiatives:

  • The elimination of single use plastics across the guest experience
  • Tracking plastic waste and managing recycling more efficiently with Oscar Sort at key touchpoints in the service cycle
  • New circular systems for coffee, water bottles, and other vital material streams within the hotel

Exhibitors

We offer a document for our exhibitors to support them in using sustainability practices as exhibitors. Click here to view this document.

Suppliers

We work with many suppliers to create a successful PDAC Convention each year. Each of our suppliers shares our commitment to sustainability.

One of our suppliers, GES, offers a document you can review to learn more about some of their initiatives. Click here to view this document.