Event and Venue Recycling

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Event and Venue Recycling
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Agenda

• Types of event/venue locations (6)
• Common Onsite Opportunities (4)
• 9 Step ToolKit
• Learn about recycling
• Gain support
• Indentify a Recycling Market
• Implementation of collection
• Logistics
• Obtain collection containers
• Implement collection strategy
• Implement education campaign
• Maintain support

• Green Event Planning
• NC Specific Case Studies
• Peer Case Studies
• Tour

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Outdoor Sports Stadiums
type

• Description
• Fixed-seating outdoor stadiums and arenas
• Overall Recycling Approach
• Participatory
• Recycling Bins
• Pass the Bag
• Merchandise/Incentives
• Non Participatory
• Pre-event or Post-event Pick
• Vendor recycling

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Indoor Sports Arenas
type

• Description
• Indoor fixed-seat sports stadiums and arenas.
• Overall Recycling Approach
• Participatory
• Recycling Bins
• Pass the Bag
• Merchandise/Incentives
• Non Participatory
• Pre-event or Post-event Pick
• Vendor recycling

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Outdoor Sporting Events
type

• Description
• An outdoor sporting event with no fixed seating
• Overall Recycling Approach
• Recycling bins most common
• Events are short duration and volunteers dont
  mind limited commitment
• Usually held in city owned municipal space

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Fixed Venues
type

• Description
• Non-sporting, specific use venues
• Examples- zoos, aquariums, amusement and water
  parks.
• Overall Recycling Approach
• Bin based recycling programs
• Permanent infrastructure

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Civic Centers
type

• Description
• Facilities that combine multiple facilities
• Examples
• Convention centers, public auditoriums
• Overall Recycling Approach
• Due to high turnover of vendors, approached can
  vary.
• Responsibility of facility management to set up
  effective standards for program.

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Special Events - Outdoors
type

• Description
• Primarily outdoors locations
• Examples
• Fairgrounds, rodeos, concert pavilions
• Overall Recycling Approach
• Bin Based
• Temporary
• Participant responsible for initiating action

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Common On-Site Recycling Opportunities

• Pre-event Recycling
• Vendor and Merchandiser Recycling
• Club, Restaurant, Suite Recycling
• Post-Event Pick Recycling

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Pre-Event Recycling
opportunity

• Where

• Benefits and Challenges

• Tailgaters
• Combination of recycling bins and picks
• Recycling bins at entrance of stadiums
• Corporate hospitality tents

• Benefits
• Recovers recyclables that would become trash
• Prepares audience for recycling inside
  event/venue
• Reduces litter on-site
• Challenges
• Logistics of bins filling rapidly on-site
• Discarded waste may have higher propensity for
  contamination

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Vendor and Merchandiser Recycling
opportunity

• What they can do

• Benefits and Challenges

• Selling beverages only in recyclable containers
• Hosting recycling bins for the type of
  recyclables sold through vendors
• Employees wearing buttons advocating recycling
• Researching green serving-ware options
• Cardboard recycling

• Benefits
• Can approach 100 percent recovery of beverage
  containers
• Vendors can become involved in recycling
  initiatives
• Challenges
• Does not necessarily recover containers brought
  from outside facility
• Bins placed near food vendors risk contamination

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Club, Restaurant and Suite Recycling
opportunity

• Dont forget-

• Benefits and Challenges

• Most venues offer special areas where there is
  full food and beverage service available
• Provide bins to these customers
• Use same approach as other areas of the venue
• Opportunities to pilot composting

• Benefits
• Education can be provided to another subset of
  the attendees
• A significant number of recyclable materials are
  consumed in these locations
• Less contamination
• Challenges
• Training of catering personnel
• Space constraints
• Aesthetics

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Post-Event Recycling
opportunity

• Where

• Benefits and Challenges

• Stands/Bleachers
• Parking Lot
• Concourse
• Streets/Sidewalks
• Park/Field

• Benefits
• Large amounts of trash and recycling where guest
  were
• High levels of recovery at minimal cost
• Hand picking ensures minimal contamination
• Challenges
• Guest is not actively involved in recycling
• Encourages laziness and littering
• Staff training and equipment

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Steps to Recycling at Venues and Special Events
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• Learn about recycling
• Gain support
• Indentify a Recycling Market
• Implementation of collection
• Logistics
• Obtain collection containers
• Implement collection strategy
• Implement education campaign
• Maintain support

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Overview of NC Laws
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• Current Bans
• Plastic bottles (Oct 2009)
• Wood palettes (Oct 2009)
• Oil filters (Oct 2009)
• Discarded computer equipment (2011)
• Oil
• White goods (appliances)
• Anti-freeze
• Aluminum cans
• Yard trash

• Oyster Shells
• Tires
• Lead-Acid Batteries
• ABC Beverage Containers

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1

• Work with vendors and merchandisers
• Consider the products purchased and sold - focus
  on recyclables
• Reduce waste generation upfront
• Avoid polystyrene
• Purchase recycled content paper and tissue
  products
• Buy in bulk verses individual serving sizes

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Gain SupportIdentify key stakeholders
2

• Internal
• Event Organizers
• Management
• Recycling program organizer
• Cleaning contractor or personnel
• Property managers/owner

• External
• Local government recycling coordinator
• Vendors (food, beverage, and products)
• Beverage suppliers
• Food service and catering personnel
• Local market/waste hauler

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Value of working with Vendors
2

• Consistency with vendors on what products they
  are using, paper, Styrofoam, plastic
• sometimes vendors change at each event, so this
  will be a challenge
• may need to create a guidebook for vendors and
  perhaps a form for them to sign to agree to the
  green measures of the stadium

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Identify a Market for Recyclables
3,

• There must be access to a reliable local market
• Consider the following
• Identify trash hauler if there is already one
  established
• Cost based on tonnage, of pick-ups, of
  bins?
• What they collect
• How they want it separated (single stream,
  commingled)
• Distance from event/venue
• Ease of Access ability to pick-up after
  business hours
• Capacity to handle additional material
• Percent of contamination allowed
• Ability to provide recovery data
• Consider long-term participation

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Recyclables
3,

• Cardboard
• Paper

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www.p2pays.org/dmrm
3.
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Budgeting for recycling
4,

• Estimate trash/recycling volumes
• Anticipate the total volume of recyclable
  material.
• Obtain container sales and estimated outside
  beverages if applicable
• Talk to vendors about additional materials they
  may bring in
• NEW Slide
• Discuss cost of trash and recycling with hauler
• Find cost of collection for trash and recycling
• Recycling creates waste diversion which lowers
  the cost of disposal.
• Revenues may be received for recyclable material.
• Look for partners and sponsors to help offset
  costs

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Estimate volumes/tonnages via sales data
4.
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Logistics for Setting-Up Recycling
5

• Confirm with event organizers, collection
  company, or the local market you are using how
  materials need to be sorted
• How materials are sorted single or dual stream
• Placing bins with trash cans (how many will you
  need?)
• Location of bins in relation to where trash is
  generated
• Hauler picking up throughout event or
  volunteer/staff labor
• Dumpsters, roll carts, dollys, hampers, change
  out plastic bags and transport with gaiters (4
  wheelers)
• When to move materials

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Container Types and Vendors
6,

• Container collection bins work best when the lid
  restricts the deposit to a bottle/can sized
  opening
• Stationary or mobile
• Mention DPPEA ClearStream containers available,
  local government containers
• Bin vendor sheet - http//www.recycleguys.org/docu
  ments/BinVendors.pdf

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Funding Ideas for Bins
6,

• grants
• donations
• local resources

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Implement Collection Strategy
7

• Training cleaning staff on sorting waste
• Mention volunteers
• How will you move materials through event/venue
• Who is moving the materials?
• Place recycling bins with trash cans
• How far away is final destination for recyclables?

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Implement Education Campaign
8

• Visibility of recycling at event mark on a map,
  mention in a brochure or on tickets that
  recycling bins are placed throughout the event,
  tall flags to mark recycling stations
• Make sure signage has pictures, not just words

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Promotion, Education and Outreach
8

• Recycle Guys
• Used for elementary aged school children to
  promote recycling

• RE3
• Used for 18-28 demographic

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Maintain support
9

• track and record recovery numbers
• Track performance numbers
• Recovery data
• Internal measurement verses collection company
  tracking via receipts and reports
• Rewards for volunteers and recyclers
• Acknowledge staff efforts for good recycling

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Beyond RecyclingGreen Event Planning

• Composting, blue-green meetings, organics, local
  food vendors, transportation, alternative energy
  resources, etc.