Football Games

Football games are a great opportunity to get the word out, practice waste reduction and recycling and provide an opportunity to reduce the economic and landfill impact to the University and community at large. Football games generate a tremendous amount of waste, much of which can be reduced and recycled. With tailgate parties in the parking lots, programs and bottles/cans in the stands and beverages sold at the beer garden, there are many opportunities to reduce the waste.

The Campus Recycling Program at the University of Oregon has been working with the Athletics department to examine this waste stream and propose steps to reduce this impact while maximizing recycling opportunities. Over the years, Campus Recycling has collected a minimal amount of bottles/cans and cardboard from football games and in 2000, the City and County partnered with the UO Recycling Program to examine this waste stream to see what was generated while identifying possibilities for future waste diversion and recovery.

Thanx to Pete Chism, the Student Recycling Coordinator and Alex Cuyler from the City of Eugene, the Campus Recycling Program embarked on a 2 game pilot project which focussed on establishing public recycling collection for bottles/cans in the stadium, identifying waste stream areas and possible collection strategies for the overall waste management in the stands, parking lot and beer garden.

Then a proposal was sent and discussed with Athletics. At this time, bottles/cans and cardboard will still continue to be recycled while other proposals are being reviewed.

Football Game Pilot Project
Waste Management Proposal
Waste Assessment Sheet for Football Games

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Pennsylvania State University
Winning Ways at Beaver Stadium for Recycling
Pennsylvania State University, in cooperation with the Center County Solid Waste Authority, has helped Beaver Stadium become a model for efficient and successful recycling. With help from former Pittsburgh Steeler star Franco Harris, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, the Glass Packaging Institute, the Steel Recycling Institute and stadium vendors, the university and authority have been able to dramatically increase recycling at Beaver Stadium. The Beaver Stadium recycling rate has increased from 4 percent to 33 percent.
During the 1999 season alone, 36 tons of plastics, metals and paper were recycled. Festive red-white-and-blue windsocks flying above the 39 strategically located clusters of recycling and trash bins have made it very easy for fans to recycle. Educational efforts - such as boy and girl scouts handing out blue-and-white "Penn State Recycles" hats and beer distributors giving "Beaver Stadium Recycles" brochures with every case of beer sold at beer distributors from Wednesday to Saturday of game week - have shown fans both how and why to recycle, a lesson that Joanne Shafer, recycling coordinator for the Center County solid Waste Authority, feels will go beyond game day.
"When you put such a positive emphasis on recycling at an event with 100,000 people, it carries over into day-to-day life," Shafer said, "I'm convinced the Beaver Stadium effort has really brought recycling to the forefront, although the impact is hard to quantify." Recycling efforts at Beaver Stadium have resulted in 10 times less trash being collected by crews during clean up after games. Beyond Beaver Stadium, Penn State University has witnessed a rise in recycling rates, from 1 percent for all commodities as recently as 1995, to beyond 37 percent.

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