OPCC upgraded all back-of-house and administrative trash and recycle areas with color-identified containers to expand our recycling efforts. We have recycling containers for glass, compost, paper, plastics, aluminum, waste, and batteries. All of our departments also practice e-recycling, and under the direction of Executive Chef David Ruiz, our culinary team donates unserved prepared food and reclaims and recycles fryer oil — part of a broader low-waste philosophy that shapes how our kitchen operates day to day.
eco friendly event venue
Our Sustainability Program
Ensuring a Greener Impact
Creating a more eco-friendly event venue at the Overland Park Convention Center is one way we make a positive impact on our community. Our leadership team worked with local environmental organizations to create goals focused on responsible waste management, green purchasing, energy efficiency and resource conservation to improve our sustainability efforts for the long term.
This collaboration identified opportunities for more sustainable operations across all departments. Overland Park Convention Center is committed to enhancing green practices in partnership with city officials, corporate leaderships, clients, and community partners.
Did You Know?
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food waste is estimated to be between 30 and 40% of the entire food supply.
This number is staggering when you consider the amount of food not going to those who need it and how much that contributes to waste in other areas like processing, preparation, transportation, and more. Our sustainability strategy and initiatives at Overland Park Convention Center are mainly focused on tackling the issues of food waste and other forms of waste.
Our Sustainability Initiatives
Waste Management
Executive Chef David Ruiz built his reputation on farm-to-table, scratch-made cooking and he’s brought that same philosophy to every kitchen decision at OPCC. Under his leadership, OPCC operates as a zero-waste kitchen, with low-waste packaging and food recycling practices adopted across all events.
One example: 75 pounds of unused berries were repurposed into house-made jam, later served in desserts for a future client event — one of many ways Chef David’s team finds a second life for ingredients that would otherwise go to waste.
Learn more about our award-winning chef.
The Overland Park Convention Center has partnered with Pete’s Garden, a food recovery organization that takes surplus prepared foods from local caterers, restaurants, and food service operations, and repackages and redirects the food as healthy take-home meals for families who need assistance in the greater Kansas City area. Under Chef David’s leadership, OPCC’s culinary team is an active partner in this effort, regularly redirecting surplus food to reduce environmental impact and support the community.
One of the largest issues in the hospitality industry is food waste. The Overland Park Convention Center is enrolled in the Food Residual Environmental Diversion Program (FRED). The goal of FRED is to reduce the amount of food waste going into local landfills and to recycle valuable organic resources.
This program provides valuable tools for our food composting efforts, such as waste audits, training, and education around venue-specific needs. We ensure food waste is recovered and recycled efficiently; food waste is picked up as needed and taken to a recycling center for composting.
- Food Scraps
- Meat, Poultry, Fish
- Shellfish and Bones
- Egg and Dairy Products
- Table Scraps & Plate Scrapings
- Fruits and Vegetables
- Bread, Dough, Pasta, Grains
Along with food items, we take part in the FRED program compost collection. This part of the program takes the following items:
- Coffee Grounds, Filters, and Tea Bags
- Food Soiled Paper
- Kitchen Paper Towels
- Uncoated Paper Take-Out Containers
- Pizza Delivery Boxes
- Paper Napkins
- Plant and wood scraps
- …and more!
2025 Total Venue Diversion Report
Month
-
January
-
February
-
March
-
April
-
May
-
June
-
July
-
August
-
September
-
October
-
November
-
December
-
TOTAL
Total Landfill Diversion
-
10,145
-
9,244
-
17,841
-
15,313
-
9,650
-
3,560
-
3,880
-
7,434
-
9,191
-
13,708
-
11,905
-
14,208
-
126,078
Green Purchasing
About 40% of the ingredients Executive Chef David Ruiz uses are locally sourced — primarily through the Overland Park Farmers Market and City Market. Eggs, chicken, and beef come from Five Mile Farms, a regenerative farm in La Cygne, Kansas; cheese comes from Hemme Brothers Creamery in Sweet Springs, Missouri; vanilla beans are sourced through Sava Trading Company; and chili crunch oil comes from Burro, a Kansas-based small-batch condiment maker. Chef David incorporates at least one locally sourced item into every client menu — supporting Kansas City-area farmers and producers while reducing our carbon footprint.
Executive Chef David Ruiz has brought the farm even closer to the table with an on-site herb garden, located in the ballroom pre-function lawn. Built with wooden raised beds arranged in rows with walking paths between them, the garden is expanding from 5 to 15 beds — growing herbs and produce used directly in OPCC’s menus, from fresh herbs to seasonal peppers and vegetables. It’s one more way Chef David’s team reduces reliance on outside sourcing while keeping ingredients as fresh as possible.
To reduce single-use waste, our food and beverage team serves events with compostable cutlery packs, select compostable bowls, and compostable box lunch packaging. Hot beverages are served in cups made from recycled paper.
Our staff uses green cleaning methods and eco-friendly products. We designed these procedures to preserve human health and environmental quality.
One of the most common eco-friendly cleaning ingredients is Aqueous Ozone. This is an EPA-certified and FDA-approved, 100% natural cleaner made of oxygen atoms, oxygen molecules, and water molecules. The combination creates a 100% sustainable and safe cleaning agent that naturally breaks down dirt, grease, and other contaminants as effectively as toxic cleaning products.
Our paper towels are USDA-certified biobased paper towels. They contain 40% or more post-consumer recycled fiber to meet EPA Comprehensive Procurement guidelines.
They are Sustainable Forestry Initiative® certified to ensure fibers are from responsible, legal sources.
Our hand soap is Green Seal-compliant in all restrooms throughout our venue.
Energy Efficiency
After an Investment Grade Audit in 2017, we selected 3 projects for our energy conservation program and put $2 million toward the initiative:
- Update and expand building automation system
- Replace cooling tower
- Retrofit existing lighting system
Retrofitting lighting resulted in a 15% reduction in overall utility costs.
We use a lighting schedule system to optimize energy use based on event timing:
- Pre-Function & Off-Hours: Lighting is reduced or turned off when spaces are not in use.
- Move-In/Move-Out Days: Half-lighting presets help conserve energy while staff and exhibitors set up.
- Daylight Harvesting: Natural light is leveraged to minimize artificial lighting use where possible.
While yearly retrofitting was an important first step in energy efficiency, our next lighting project is a complete replacement to make a large step towards a more eco-friendly event venue. This complete venue lighting fixture replacement will require less electricity, reducing carbon dioxide emissions and leading to significant annual savings.
In 2022, the R-value (insulation rating) of your roof nearly doubled from R17 after the installation of a new roofing system. This significant improvement enhances energy efficiency and reduces overall costs. Additionally, the new roof features a thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) membrane, which is 100% recyclable. At the end of its lifespan, it can be repurposed rather than contributing to landfill waste, supporting both sustainability and environmental responsibility.
Resource Conservation
Our team is constantly working to reduce our carbon footprint, no matter how big or small. We communicate with employees to cultivate a sustainable environment with mindful energy and resource usage.
Our team created lighting conservation policies with guidelines for both our staff and exhibitors; these guidelines cover the many contexts of the convention center and also encompass the use of heating and cooling.
In 2025, Executive Chef David Ruiz launched the 86 Challenge, an eight-week wellness initiative developed by Humans of the Kitchen. Recognizing that culinarians spend so much time taking care of others that they often forget to take care of themselves, the program focused on movement, hydration, mental health awareness, and daily team check-ins — giving the kitchen a chance to reset, together.
- Water is saved by using low-flow, automatic faucets and water-efficient toilets in all restrooms.
- Our recently added bottle filling stations maximize sustainability by reducing the usage of disposable plastic bottles.
- Automatic dispensers are used in all bathrooms to reduce paper and product waste.
- Automatic light sensors are used in all restrooms, storage closets, and hallways.
