Sustainability Initiatives

Mining Indaba’s commitment to sustainability is evident in its efforts to reduce its environmental footprint, promote circularity in its products and processes, and deliver innovative solutions that improve the quality of life. By investing in sustainable practices and collaborating with industry partners, Mining Indaba is driving positive change within the event industry.

Our Commitments

Advancing New Solutions

Our goal is to offer sustainable products that enhance customer value, reduce carbon footprints, reduce waste, and increase safety through investments in new sustainable solutions.

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Initiatives and Engagement

Our commitment extends beyond compliance, focusing on fostering knowledge and providing innovative solutions to ensure safe product use and minimise environmental impact.

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People, Communities and Collaboration

We strive to empower communities, foster collaborations, and implement sustainable practices, ensuring lasting environmental and social impact.

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Advancing New Solutions

Since 2022, we have partnered with innovative exhibition stand builders, Jane&Paul, who specialise in creating sustainable exhibition infrastructure.

Their flat-pack and modular designs boast a low carbon footprint in both transportation and packaging, allowing for reuse at each show. The primary construction material used is sustainably sourced South African Pine, known for its natural durability and ability to store carbon, making it an ideal choice for reducing environmental impact in the construction industry. Employing a CNC cut joining mechanism ensures precise assembly, eliminates the need for standard fasteners like screws or nails, and facilitates efficient flat-packing and reusability of the units.

Along with adopting ScanDisplay’s fabric shell scheme solution for stands, we also selected lightweight panels that, in keeping with our sustainable practices, lower carbon emissions and improve transport convenience. Following the event, exhibitors can store their graphic walls with Scan Display for reuse, promoting resource conservation, waste reduction, and furthering our sustainability objectives. The sustainable approach to improving our exhibition includes the use of reusable carpet tiles, significantly reducing waste compared to traditional single-use carpets typically found at exhibitions. By integrating digital screens and signage throughout the event space, we also lessened the dependence on freestanding banners, strengthening our sustainability efforts.

Initiatives and Engagement

Donating magazine collateral

The team intended to prohibit printed collateral, but media partners supplied popular magazines. After the event, surplus magazines were donated to Silverleaf School in Dunoon, which received recycling funds and utilised them to purchase seeds and plant vegetables which fed 750 children.

Recycling graphics

The team attempts to keep all signage information generic so that the images can be reused year after year. Any graphics that cannot be reused, such as sponsor walls or graphics with outdated logos, are donated to Sealand Gear, a Cape Town-based maker of repurposed outdoor bags and apparel. Sealand repurposes leftover fabric to make inners for their responsibly made bags.

People, Communities and Collaboration

Supporting Township

Hyve has been purchasing delegate bags from Township® since 2018. Township is a Fair-Trade social company that promotes women’s economic development in South African township communities. They support five cooperatives that employ 45 women in the Cape Town townships of Khayelitsha and Manenberg. All of the Township’s items are manufactured from eco-friendly textiles such as jute, cotton, or recycled PET from plastic bottles.

Supporting Kidz Positive

Kidz Positive serves as an income generation initiative, empowering mothers and caregivers of children impacted by HIV/AIDS to earn a livelihood. Workers collect raw materials weekly, either from home or at the local office in Cape Town, as shown in the images below. This year, Kidz Positive manufactured notebooks, pens, and ministerial folders for our delegates, essential tools for them to engage effectively in their roles.

Featured Projects and Impact

Masonwabe Educare Centre (Breadline Africa)

In partnership with Breadline Africa, Hyve Group have funded the reconstruction of the Masonwabe Educare Centre in Gugulethu, Cape Town, providing a safe, hygienic, and inspirational learning environment for 74 children. The newly constructed Early Childhood Development (ECD) facility was built using carbon-negative building technology and is set to reopen in April 2024. The project, delivered in partnership with Breadline Africa, used a carbon-negative building technology called BRIC (Biomass-Recycled Insulating Concrete), which is known for its multiple environmental benefits. 

95% recycled or waste material per m2
Saves 20l of water per m2 per day when compared to traditional brick-and-mortar
>1ha of indigenous ecosystems are restored per 43m2 structure 
Can sequester up to 250kg CO2e per m2 in the construction phase. Breadline Africa can provide the necessary Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)
3-hour fire-rated wall panels
Maintaining an ambient temperature of 21°C and requiring no additional heating or cooling in the South African climate

We appreciate the Hyve Group’s collaboration in bringing about positive changes in communities, exemplifying the center’s Masonwabe name, which translates to “Let us be happy.”

Township Sustainable Bags in Partnership with Hyve Group

Bags made out of recycled PET from bottles collected in south Africa.

Bags are made out of natural cotton locally sourced from South African countries.

Bags produced in women-owned cooperatives based in township communities.

4 cooperatives

25 women

34,000 hours

The Nourish Our Children Programme (Ladles of Love)

The Nourish Our Children programme, which operates at the Masonwabe centre in Barcelona, Gugulethu, serves as a beacon of hope for the community. Following the event, Mining Indaba made a donation to Ladles of Love Nourish Our Children Programme, ensuring continued support for the school by providing nutritious meals to the children. The programme provides daily meals to children in need, ensuring they have access to essential nutrients for their growth and development. By educating both children and their families on proper nutrition, the Nourish Our Children programme aims to create a sustainable solution to food insecurity in the community.

Every bowl of food we provide to people in need is filled with hope and love.” This enables parents to focus on parenting rather than worrying about food scarcity, allowing children to play freely without fear of starvation. The food provided by Ladles of Love improves the lives of people who make different choices and behave differently when they are full. We are extremely grateful to Hyve for their continuous support in improving lives.

Andiswa Ncamiso One of the women warriors who set up and run a soup kitchen in the Joe Slovo informal community

Recycling Stage Sets

We work with Gearhouse to implement a sustainable approach by storing and reusing elements of our stage sets. This eco-conscious practice significantly reduces our carbon footprint while promoting resource efficiency. By extending the lifespan of stage materials through reuse, we minimize waste and contribute to a greener event industry. This commitment to sustainability underscores our dedication to environmental responsibility and sets a positive example for future events.

Vegetarian Food at the Event

At Mining Indaba 2025, all food is sustainably sourced and local. We also design our menus to be 70% vegetarian. This approach significantly reduces our environmental footprint by minimizing transportation emissions and supporting local farmers. Replacing the meat offering at the event reduces methane which contributes to climate change. Making this change reduces the GHG emissions of all the individuals attending the event by hundreds throughout the weeks event.