Partnerships For The Goals
When I joined the MeetGreen team in 2017, one of the first elements that became clear was the degree of collaboration required to plan and execute a sustainable event successfully.
From new products and processes to reporting and stakeholder buy-in, every step requires close coordination across teams and departments.
The United Nations underscored the critical importance of cross-functional collaboration in their 17th and capstone Sustainable Development Goal: Partnerships For The Goals.
Jim Goes Above and Beyond
Recognizing the power of collaboration, the MeetGreen team and I want to highlight Jim Jensen, Recycling Manager at Mandalay Bay, for his long-standing partnership and exceptional efforts to reduce the environmental impact of events.
Key Point of Contact in Las Vegas
Amid the staggering scope of scale of Las Vegas strip infrastructure, it can be easy to wonder if there is a feasible way to effect change in such a seemingly anonymous and fast-moving environment. Jim’s personal responsiveness and follow-through to our many questions and inquiries before, during, and after events has helped serve as a sustainability and waste management air traffic controller for numerous areas central to the production’s sustainability. By leveraging his over 20 years at MGM Resorts International, he has also helped connect our team to other valuable staff and stakeholders within Las Vegas operations, vastly accelerating our team’s progress and effectiveness.
Jim Jensen: A Community Conduit for Event Material Recovery
With over 2 million square feet of expo and meeting space, Mandalay Bay Convention Center is home to some of the largest tradeshows in the meetings industry. In these heavily built environments, there is typically a high degree of physical event materials, furniture, signage, and branding elements that would have been disposed into regional landfills without a venue recovery program. In 2024 alone, Jim has helped repurpose and donate thousands of pounds of event materials to those in need in Las Vegas during conventions our team has been affiliated with.
Operational Innovation at Mandalay Bay
With a nearly nonstop influx of events moving in and out of the facility, it would be understandable if there was resistance to operational changes. However, Jim has proven more than open to piloting new strategies for optimizing waste management systems at our events. This sense of innovation and experimentation continues each event cycle and has been the direct opposite of “rinse and repeat.”
Bringing Transparency & Credibility to the Event Industry
Significant elements in sustainable events sometimes occur back of house and out of sight of most attendees. Jim has been central in helping boost the overall transparency of our initiatives by educating and escorting representatives from the event team to locations such as key waste docks serving the conference. This level of direct engagement has helped build shared understanding and excitement within the team around waste management issues critical to the event. This first-hand access and education has often helped lend greater “passing the eye-ball test” credibility to reported numbers on the page.
Partnering with Jim On Measurement & Reporting
When it comes to metrics, Jim works closely with our teams to ensure that we can measure, quantify, and report on our waste streams, often in very granular detail. This can require more coordination than it may seem, as there frequently can be more than one event on the property, with numerous logistical considerations required to keep waste streams separate.
It Takes A Team: Honoring Jim Jensen
Having a venue advocate and ally like Jim Jensen onsite at our Mandalay Bay Convention Center events has been an invaluable asset and accelerator for our sustainability goals. Partnerships like those with Jim help make innovation positive impact possible in the present. Thank you, Jim!
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