The Netherlands Country Pavilion on the World Expo in Dubai is the first country that receives the GSES Circular Footprint® certificate and the RISE certification from the Expo organization and GSES System®.
The certificates were issued the 3rd of November, on the National Day of the Netherlands, from the World Expo organization and the GSES System to Minister Tom de Bruin of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. On the same day that the royal couple, King Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima visited the Netherlands pavilion.
The Netherlands Pavilion is about uniting Energy, Water and Food and stimulating the Circular Economy. Therefore, The Netherlands built a circular construction of utilized sheet piles used for the construction of the Netherlands pavilion.
Circular Footprint – The GSES Circular Footprint certificate measures the Circular Footprint of Country Pavilions based on Ellen McArthur MCI, Cradle to Cradle and BS 8001 resulting in the GSES Circular Footprint Certification. The Circular Footprint of The Netherlands Pavilion is 95%. 90% of the total construction of the pavilion is reusable after the use on the Expo site, and the pavilion used 100% reused (and locally sourced) materials to build its construction. That makes a Circular Footprint score of 95% in total. For reusing the sheet piles after Expo, the Kingdom of The Netherlands and DutchDubai organization made sure they have a recycling plan in place to be able to reuse all sheet piles after the World Expo 2020 in Dubai.
EXPO RISE verification – The RISE verification from EXPO and GSES System measures the use of packaging in and around the Pavilions. The scoring of The Netherlands Pavilion regarding RISE is compliance because the pavilion uses recycled and biodegradable packaging and makes sure that all packaging is recyclable after use. This is very important and a great achievement for The Netherlands Pavilion.
‘The Netherlands Pavilion is a huge Circular project that shows that circular design can be done, as well as circular building and construction and recycling planning before creating a building construction! Let this be an example for the building and construction sector across the world! Our GSES System platform is for all stakeholders, countries, organizations, products and supply chains. Besides issuing The Netherlands Country pavilion certificates we also issued the GSES System certificate to Hoogendoorn Growth Management during the trade reception on the 2nd of November. A company in horticultural automation, which not only talks about sustainability but also puts it into practice in the MENA Region. Koppert Biological
Systems, ABN AMRO Bank, Univé Insurances, etc also use the GSES System and are verified. There is a huge potential for sustainable growth globally and together with the Expo organization we show that it can be measured and verified accordingly. In this way we set an example for the rest of the world.’
Kelly Ruigrok, CEO GSES System, Data for Good and the National Sustainability Institute from The Netherlands.
Striving to be the most sustainable World Expo in history, Expo 2020 Dubai has collaborated with Dutch company Global Sustainable Enterprise System (GSES System® / GSES®) under efforts to measure and report the sustainability performance of key stakeholders across the event. Using the GSES platform Expo measures the sustainability impact of the event’s suppliers’ and Country Pavilions – resulting in comprehensive rating cards, based on independent audits. Using the GSES rating cards, software platform and standards, Expo 2020 was able to verify its suppliers, International Participants, and exhibitors to meet its high sustainability standards.
“We have adopted a wide-ranging approach to achieving our site-wide sustainability goals, underscoring our bold ambitions with grand action to integrate sustainability into all of our experiences and operations. Our collaboration with GSES System is emblematic of these efforts, supported by the sustainability commitments of our stakeholders as we work together to host one of the most sustainable World Expos in history and create a meaningful, measurable impact beyond the site and our 182-day run.”
Dina Storey, Director Sustainability Operations Expo 2020 Dubai
‘We are delighted that the Dutch company GSES System has developed such sophisticated measurement techniques regarding sustainable impact that help contribute to these important goals.’
H.E. Lody Embrechts, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UAE