Zero waste initiatives are gathering steam, especially, in large sporting venues and airports which historically have generated considerable solid waste from vendors and thousands of fans and travelers. Major ballparks such as Boston’s beloved Fenway Park and the Los Angeles Coliseum, as well as international airports such as Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson are all getting on board with zero waste initiatives designed to drive down the cost of waste processing and removal as well as promote greener, more conscientious treatment of the environment.
Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, is the oldest ballpark in the country, but it’s also one of the most advanced when it comes to recycling and composting. Fenway Park is now a single-stream recycling facility, meaning all recyclable materials can be co-mingled, including plastic, cardboard, and paper – encouraging fans to recycle their food containers and programs instead of just tossing them in a trash can.
Even Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is getting in on the recycling action. As one of the busiest airports in the world, it was ripe for adopting an aggressive approach to recycling and began planning for a first-of-its-kind recycling and composting facility on airport grounds. While the project is still in the planning and proposal stage, the city is looking to have the program up and running by 2020.
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The Los Angeles Coliseum started tackling the trash disposal issue back in 2011 when it piloted a successful Zero Waste tailgate event, followed by several more zero waste events and a partnership with several area waste disposal and recycling partners. Most service ware items have been switched out for paper and fiber-based trays, clamshells and bowls, and compostable cutlery and portion cups. Subcontractor noncompliance with the program is largely on knives, forks and spoons.
This is where UrthPact and our partners Preserve and Totally Green Bottles & Caps may be able to help. We are currently producing attractive, durable, and colorful recycled cutlery for Preserve that keeps the plastic in the production stream and out of landfills. We are also manufacturing 100 percent compostable water bottles, caps, and labels for Totally Green. Soon we will be producing compostable cutlery for Preserve which, along with Totally Green’s products, would be ideal for use in closed loop waste streams that contain and isolate compostable disposal such as the proposed facilities at Hartsfield-Jackson. In fact, these leading edge recyclable and compostable products are well-suited for any public venue interested in reducing its landfill waste and moving to a greener, more environmentally-friendly approach with programs such as Zero Waste initiatives.
