Skip to main content

2025 Sustainability Impact Statement

OCC’s FY 2025 Sustainability Impact Statement highlights our progress in waste reduction, energy savings, local sourcing, and community impact—reflecting our ongoing commitment to a more sustainable future.

Headshot of Nancy Reimer

Nancy Reimer

Sustainability Coordinator

[email protected]

503-731-7822

Overview

This 2025 report highlights key projects, progress towards the Oregon Convention Center’s sustainability goals, and a peek at upcoming initiatives. It is meant to be a high-level overview of some of the highlights of this past year. Sustainability has been a key value of OCC since the beginning, and we’ve come a long way in our journey. We recognize that our world is continually changing, and with that comes constantly rethinking and reevaluating where we are and where we want to be going. We are committed to the long-term work of sustainability for our venue, event industry and our community. Please feel free to also reference OCC’s Sustainable Event Guide, and our sustainability website as additional resources.

Hand reaching through lush green ferns.

By the numbers

  • A black-and-white recycle symbol with three arrows forming a triangle on a black background, conveying sustainability and environmental responsibility.
    Reducing landfill impact

    69% of all materials generated were diverted away from landfill in fiscal year 2025.

  • Graphic of a recycling symbol inside of an apple representing composting
    Sustainable food practices

    87 tons of food composted in fiscal year 2025.

  • Graphic illustration of a hand truck with boxes loaded on to it.
    Community impact through donation

    32,080 pounds of reusable goods donated to nonprofit organizations and the equivalent of 5,600 meals donated to nonprofits working to address food scarcity in the Portland area.

  • Graphic illustration of an energy efficient lightbulb.
    Energy efficiency in action

    Through our efforts with Strategic Energy Management, OCC saved a total of 916,633 kWh and 1,467 therms in 2024, with earnings of $18,626.00.

  • Graphic illustration of a drinking cup with a recycling symbol on it.
    Bold steps toward reuse

    Since beginning our partnership with Bold Reuse, 55,536 single use items have been kept out of landfill.

  • Graphic illustration of a plate of food featuring fish and vegetables.
    Sourcing close to home

    57% of food sourced locally (within 250 miles)

    89% of seafood meeting sustainability criteria

Project Highlights

Aerial view of OCC exterior.

Event Industry Council (EIC) Sustainable Event Standards Certification

We have always prided ourselves on being a leader in green certifications, and this year was no exception!  We pursued certification under EIC Sustainable Event Standards and received Platinum in January 2025. This certification demonstrated our commitment not just to sustainable building operations but also to maintaining robust sustainability policies and staff engagement. This certification focused on eight specific areas to enhance sustainable events, including Organizational Management, Marketing, Communications and Engagement, Climate Action, Water Management, Materials and Circularity, Supply Chain Management, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Accessibility and Social Impact.

 

Outdoor rain garden with tall grasses and rocks.

Rain Garden Update

OCC embarked on a major two-year project to update our innovative rain garden on the south end of the building. The rain garden was first installed in 2003 and diverts stormwater from 5.5 acres of roof and loading dock space to be filtered prior to entering the Willamette River. We took the opportunity to not only improve waterproofing for the building, but also to remove lawn areas, incorporate additional native plantings, update signage, install LED accent lighting, add walkways and better access and visibility for the rain garden.

A hand holds a reusable cup with a black label.

Expanding reuse in food and beverage

In February 2025, OCC took a bold step toward formalizing reuse into OCC’s food and beverage operations. Thanks to sponsorship by Pepsi and Bold Reuse along with some amazing design work from the OCC and Levy teams, cups were added to our reuse program to support waste prevention and reduction efforts. In addition, we branded drop sites, wrote an FAQ for staff, and created digital marketing assets. The cups are collected in our reusable food baskets and are washed, sanitized, and returned to OCC to be used over and over again!

Aerial view of a busy lobby.

Rising interest in event-specific sustainability reports

At OCC, we often say that any event in our building is green just by being here, because sustainability is so woven into our day-to-day operations. That being said, we always have a few events that truly go above and beyond sustainability or take a specific interest in highlighting our program. In past years, we have typically got a few events asking for their event-specific sustainability metrics. This past year, we saw interest rise in event specific data, and we reported event-specific sustainability metrics for double the events. To share this kind of information more broadly and better automate processes, OCC is exploring new technologies and software systems to capture and inform clients on these metrics