FSM
Waste Management
Talking Rubbish:
SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT By George Pearce, SUEZ Industrial and Commercial, South East.
Stadium waste is an ongoing challenge, but skipping and tipping is a thing of the past. Simpler Recycling is demanding a more creative approach to future-proofing venues against increasingly stringent environmental legislation.
In 2023 Arsenal’s sustainability report revealed that an Emirates capacity crowd left behind a staggering 12 tonnes of waste after every match, the majority of which was food and packaging.
Using their on-site waste sorting facility, 40% of that rubbish was sorted for recycling before it even left the grounds and, with a zero-waste-to-landfill policy in place,
food leftovers
were sent to anaerobic digestion, whilst residual waste (i.e. everything else) to energy recovery facilities – both of which generate renewable energy.
Just two years ago, this was the type of sustainable waste management performance that drew almost as much praise as the on-pitch performance. However, since the introduction of the Simpler Recycling Regulations in April this year, it is fast becoming the baseline for every stadium.
Simpler Recycling is intended to be exactly that; a way that every business employing over 10 people can easily sort and segregate their waste. Dry mixed recyclables (DMR) – or paper, cardboard, metal, glass and plastic – are viewed as commodities by the waste industry so keeping these materials clean, dry and uncontaminated with other materials means a happy waste management partner and a more cost-efficient, compliant and sustainable stadium.
Residual waste is everything that can’t be recycled and that previously included food until Simpler Recycling came into force. Now, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a pie or a punnet of strawberries, that uneaten food must be separated from residual waste.
The main reason for ensuring food doesn’t end up in general waste is its potential to release methane into the atmosphere if it ends up in landfill. Methane is about 30 times more potent than CO2
as a greenhouse gas. But food waste that breaks down
in sealed containers during anaerobic digestion (literally ‘without oxygen’) provides a valuable source of renewable energy.
But if it seems like a bit of a faff to get an office of 10 people to diligently peel the aluminium lid off their yogurt pot and scrape their plates into a food waste bin, persuading thousands of spectators to do the same whilst they are clearly focused on more enjoyable pursuits demands a little more creativity.
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