MLS Advocates for Sustainability with First Zero Landfill Stadium
April 30, 2021
Major League Soccer's (MLS) Philadelphia Union and its home stadium, Subaru Park, has plans to divert 100% of its waste from landfills. The site has been working towards becoming the first ‘zero landfill’ MLS stadium in the United States, after having produced vast amounts of landfill waste in the past.
In 2019, Subaru Park produced more than 357,000 pounds of waste. 40,000 of that was diverted to recycling but the remaining 317,000 pounds of waste went into landfills, which are detrimental to the atmosphere, producing highly toxic methane emissions.
In order to achieve its goal of becoming the first zero landfill stadium, the park is changing the kinds of containers it gives out to fans and its waste streams to increase recycling. It is also raising fan awareness on how to best dispose of materials in an efficient and sustainable way.
Since 2004, all the Subaru car factories in the world have been zero-landfill, even as they manufacture 1.1 million vehicles per year. “It’s really a remarkable environmental effort,” stated Alan Bethke, a senior VP of marketing for Subaru, America.
Now it is taking their efforts to Philadelphia’s MLS stadium where the manufacturer will work with the owners, managers, the Union's recycling partners and each on-site concessionaire. “A lot of what some of the food and beverage providers would have normally brought in, we have completely changed that,” Bethke continued.
Already, vendors have been directed to cut out items that cannot be recycled, such as shrink-wrap. The items given out to guests will be as recyclable as possible, including plastic bottles, cups, containers and plates. Subaru will separate the waste into three different streams and has purchased 111 new bins for the effort.
Volunteers, called Subaru Ambassadors, will be on-site to help direct fans to the correct bins. This will be a part of the effort to educate fans and will also include new signs, videos and messaging to help them dispose of waste correctly. This effort, Bethke says, is important not just for disposal best practices but also for getting the fans’ buy-in, to get them to be a part of the community initiative.
MLS’s efforts towards sustainability were also in play during last week's Earth Day, where the league celebrated with reforestation projects through MLS WORKS, the league's social responsibility platform. MLS will be investing in reforestation to help store carbon that would otherwise harm the planet. The carbon stored in trees will help balance out the greenhouse gas emissions associated with league and club travel from the 2020 season, including airfare, accommodations and ground transportation.
This is part of MLS WORKS’ Greener Goals initiative, which identifies ways to reduce the League’s greenhouse gas footprint and raises awareness about environmental issues throughout the soccer community. MLS will continue to address its environmental impact by contributing to activities that help reduce the League’s carbon footprint.
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