The Rise Of The Sustainable Football Stadium

David Llewellyn, Chief Executive at the Vending & Automated Retail Association (AVA), explains the benefits of the Single Use Plastic Ban and Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) to improve sustainability in stadium hospitality.

In recent years, the importance of sustainability has become increasingly apparent in all sectors, especially within hospitality. The hospitality industry recognises the need to adopt sustainable practices to minimise its environmental impact, a decision driven by both consumer demand for environmentally responsible products, the need to reduce our carbon footprint, and the desire to reduce operating costs.

With focus upon reaching Net Zero by 2050, the Government is currently working on legislation to help improve sustainability by encouraging recycling and reusing of plastic, with the introduction of the single use plastic ban from October 2023.

Businesses will be prohibited from selling single use plastic products – such as plastic plates & cutlery – this will include sale within hospitality settings such as stadium food and drink outlets. In a bid to incentivise consumers to recycle their drinks bottles or cans, DEFRA is also looking to introduce a deposit return scheme (DRS), which is expected to be implemented in England in 2025.

The aim of the new regulation is to increase recycling and re-use, reduce littering and hence reduce plastic pollution. Currently, England alone uses 2.7 billion items of single-use cutlery — most of which are plastic — and 721 million single-use plates a year, but only 10% are recycled. By using reusable and recyclable materials, companies can significantly reduce the amount of waste generated by their operations not only benefitting the environment but can also reduce costs associated with waste disposal. Legislation such as the DRS, single use plastic ban and the mandatory take back scheme will all help the sector to take huge strides towards net-zero efforts and reducing carbon footprint.

The DRS scheme is expected to see an 85% reduction in discarded drinks containers in the first three years from launch. The balance that will have to be achieved is making the deposit amount high enough to encourage a change in behaviour, but not so much that it stops people from buying drinks. For example, Arsenal FCs stadium, The Emirates, saved over 500,000 plastic cups going to landfill in 2020 due their own reusable cup scheme, and have since continued this positive trajectory.

Moreover, other than the environmental rewards, the positive impact that increased sustainability has on brand image and reputational value is extremely significant. Customers are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental impact of their purchases and are looking for businesses that prioritise sustainability.

From a marketing and advertising perspective, the legislation is a fantastic opportunity to publicise a venue and its active efforts to become more sustainable.

Sustainable practices can also have financial benefits. In the long term, the legislation introduced will improve waste management systems, which undoubtedly will save expenses on things such as excess waste removal and restocking on single use plastics. Whilst the short-term costs may increase as businesses find alternative sustainable solutions, the long term savings they will bring will greatly help.

Yet what is important to consider is the nature of behaviour in football stadiums. Whilst the legislation is designed to encourage the reusing of plastic products, inevitably consumers may still choose to discard their cups within, or as they leave the stadiums regardless of if it is reusable. Stadiums will need to decide on what is best for them, which could be that’s launching its own cup return scheme where people receive their deposit back when they return it to encourage recycling.

Adopting best practice may demand some effort and expense - and the precise shape of all anticipated legislation is not yet known. However, stadiums that replace single use plastics, even where they are not legally required to, will bring about great societal benefits and accrue significant economic advantages. Those embracing sustainable practices are obviously doing the right thing ethically, by working towards a cleaner, less hazardous world.

And, increasingly, businesses of all types are discovering that the boosted environmental credentials that follow bring very good news via lowered costs, increased sales to concerned consumers, greater brand loyalty and consumer trust and improved innovation abilities.