Sports events and stadiums have long been notorious for their huge environmental footprints, from massive energy use to mountains of trash left behind by fans. In fact, sporting event attendees generate around 39 million pounds of trash per year in the U.S. alone. Today, leagues and venues worldwide are embracing sustainability like never before, and teams are leveraging their cultural influence to lead by example, showing fans that being stewards can be part of the game-day experience. A prime example is the emergence of the PATH refill initiatives with prominent sports teams. Ranging from waste reduction efforts to renewable energy, stadiums are setting new standards for environmental responsibility.
Here are five key sustainability initiatives that sports venues across professional leagues, college programs, and international events are implementing. Each initiative is backed by studies, data, and real-world examples, from cutting single-use plastics to conserving water, showing how greener operations benefit the planet, engage fans, and even save money.
1. Reduce single-use plastics with refillable bottles and cups
One of the most visible sustainability pushes at stadiums is the elimination of single-use plastic bottles and cups. This is a critical target because tens of thousands of fans at a single game can generate 35 tons of waste, much of it disposable food and drink containers. To tackle this, many venues are switching to reusable or easily recyclable alternatives such as aluminum packaging.
Denver’s Ball Arena, home of the NBA’s Nuggets and NHL’s Avalanche, became the first pro sports arena to introduce aluminum drink cups at full scale. In 2024, it went a step further, partnering with PATH Water to replace all plastic water bottles with refillable aluminum bottles co-branded with team logos, the best of both worlds with reusability and aluminum packaging. Every refill of a PATH bottle means one less plastic bottle in the trash, and as the arena’s operators note, fans have embraced these durable bottles, which help them stay hydrated and have come with new water refill stations; they also get a meaningful souvenir to remember the game. This aligns with PATH’s core mission, encouraging people to “#refillit,” and shows why teams and fans love the concept, which is sustainable and memorable.
2. Achieve “zero waste” with recycling and composting programs
Another major initiative is the drive toward zero waste events, where the vast majority of trash is diverted from landfills via recycling or composting. Many stadiums now set ambitious diversion targets (90% or higher) to qualify as zero-waste facilities.
It’s a challenging feat, but some are already hitting those numbers. For instance, during the 2023 football season, the University of Southern California’s LA Memorial Coliseum achieved a 91.7% landfill diversion rate, keeping over 69.3 tons of game-day waste out of landfills through aggressive recycling and composting efforts. Yankee Stadium in New York City has become one of the top recycling venues in sports, about 85% of the Stadium’s total trash is now diverted away from landfills through a comprehensive program of separating recyclables and compostables. In one notable season, a New Jersey concert venue (the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion) was recognized by the EPA for diverting nearly 60% of its waste, almost 100 tons, to recycling in a year, spotlighting that even older venues can make significant strides with the proper practices.
How do stadiums reach such high waste diversion rates? They deploy a mix of strategies at every step of the waste stream. Front-of-house venues place recycling and compost bins next to every trash can and use clear, simple signage, making it easy for fans to sort waste. Many have switched to compostable or recyclable food packaging (plates, cups, cutlery made from fiber or bioplastic) so that even what appears to be “trash” can be composted. Behind the scenes, dedicated crews often pick through seating areas after games to collect recyclables before the general trash clean-up. Food waste recovery is another huge strategy where stadiums partner with organizations to donate untouched surplus food and install on-site composters or bio-digesters for scraps.
Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, for example, repurposed 20 tons of leftover food in one year by turning unused concession ingredients into staff meals, and composted 50 tons of food waste through an organics collection program. All of these efforts add up, and they save money by recycling and composting. Venues reduce landfill tipping fees and can even earn money from materials like aluminum or cardboard.
3. Power operations with renewable energy and efficiency
Energy use is another focal point, as stadiums traditionally consume enormous amounts of electricity. The good news is that sports venues are adopting renewable energy and efficiency measures at an unprecedented rate, cutting both carbon emissions and operating costs. Solar power has been a game-changer. As of 2022, roughly 33% of major U.S. sports teams play in venues that have adopted on-site solar energy, and over 40.6 million fans attended events at solar-powered stadiums that year.
These installations range from modest solar panel arrays on arena rooftops to massive solar farms dedicated to stadium operations. For example, the NFL's MetLife Stadium (home of the Giants and Jets) retrofitted its facility with 1,350 solar panels to help power the venue. In Major League Soccer, Real Salt Lake's stadium sports over 6,000 solar panels, producing enough energy to supply an estimated 73% of the venue's annual needs.
Perhaps most impressively, the Sacramento Kings' Golden 1 Center, the first arena to achieve LEED Platinum certification, now runs on 100% renewable energy, with 85% of its power coming from an off-site solar farm and 15% from panels on its roof. This means Kings' games and concerts are powered entirely by renewable electricity. Seattle's cutting-edge Climate Pledge Arena operates on 100% clean energy (a mix of on-site solar and off-site renewable sources) and is the first arena to earn a net-zero carbon certification. The commitment to renewables is truly global, with FIFA's upcoming World Cup stadiums aiming for sustainable design, and the Paris 2024 Olympics planning to use only renewable electricity.
Energy efficiency upgrades go hand-in-hand with renewable energy. Stadiums are installing modern LED lighting, smart energy management systems, and efficient climate control to drastically reduce power consumption.
A case in point, before installing LEDs, the floodlights at Yankee Stadium used enormous power; after the switch to high-efficiency LED field lighting, the new system is 40% more energy-efficient (while actually providing brighter illumination). The energy saved from that one upgrade alone is enough to power about 45 average homes per day, a staggering illustration of how large the old lighting demand was.
4. Conserve water through efficiency and reuse systems
Water may literally flow through stadiums, think of all the bathrooms, concession stands, and field irrigation, but it’s a precious resource that sustainable venues are conserving with innovative approaches. With at least 40 U.S. states anticipating water shortages, sports facilities are under pressure to use water smarter, and many are rising to the challenge.
A flagship example is Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the NFL’s state-of-the-art venue that became the first sports stadium in the world to earn LEED Platinum status. To achieve that, the stadium’s designers implemented a suite of water-saving measures. They installed ultra-efficient restroom fixtures (low-flow toilets and sinks) that greatly reduce water per flush, planted drought-resistant landscaping (xeriscaping) around the arena, and even put in waterless urinals, each of which saves an estimated 35,000 gallons of water per year compared to a traditional unit. Perhaps most impressive is the stadium’s massive 680,000 gallon rainwater harvesting cistern, which captures stormwater from the roof to be reused for irrigation of the field and surrounding greenery and for cooling the building. This not only cuts the stadium’s municipal water draw, but also helps reduce flooding in the local neighborhood by buffering heavy rains. Thanks to all these efforts, Mercedes-Benz Stadium dramatically lowered its water consumption and earned all the water efficiency credits needed for LEED Platinum, setting a model for new stadium construction worldwide.
5. Engage fans and communities in sustainable practices
The final, and perhaps most powerful, initiative is engaging the fans and broader community in sustainability efforts. Sports teams have a unique platform to influence millions of people, and many are using it to encourage greener behaviors both on and off the field. One approach is making it easier for fans to make sustainable choices, getting to and from games. Transportation can be a huge part of an event’s carbon footprint (think of all the cars in parking lots), so venues are incentivizing alternatives.
In Portland, Providence Park (home of MLS’s Timbers and NWSL’s Thorns) famously has no on-site parking garage; instead, the venue partners with the transit agency so that game tickets include free public transit rides, and it offers abundant bike parking for cyclists. This way, taking the light rail or bus is the most convenient way to attend, and driving is discouraged (even street parking prices go up on game days). Yankee Stadium boasts that it has one of the best mass-transit connections of any sports venue, sitting next to subway and rail stations, and the Yankees actively encourage fans to use these options since the team provides no general fan parking at the stadium. Several NFL teams have started offering electric vehicle charging in their lots or preferred parking for carpools. All these efforts cut down on traffic congestion, lower emissions, and send a message that low-carbon travel is part of the fan experience.
At USC’s Zero Waste Game, announcements and signage inform attendees about the behind-the-scenes recycling and composting, and fans see result announcements like this game achieved over 90% waste diversion, reinforcing the impact of everyone’s actions. Some pro teams have run fan engagement campaigns like recycling challenges, such as when the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts partnered with a sponsor to “gamify” recycling at Lucas Oil Stadium, rewarding fans for recycling bottles during a Green Game event. Leagues and organizations are also banding together to amplify impact.
The Green Sports Alliance, which started with just a handful of teams in 2010, now counts over 600 teams and venues among its membership, all sharing best practices to make sports more sustainable. On the global stage, initiatives like the UN’s Sports for Climate Action Framework have attracted signatories including Olympic committees, FIFA, and dozens of pro teams, signaling a commitment to engage sports audiences on climate solutions.
From refillable aluminum PATH water bottles to solar-powered arenas, the world of sports is undergoing a green transformation. Every time a fan refills a bottle instead of tossing one in the trash, or takes the train because it’s included with a game ticket, is a victory for making better choices. Multiply that by millions of fans across leagues and continents, and the impact becomes enormous. Sports have always had the power to bring people together, and now they’re uniting people around the goal of a healthier planet, and that is a championship effort we can all cheer for.
Learn more about becoming a partner with PATH for your sports team. >
Resources
https://www.ediblebrooklyn.com/2019/stadium-waste-barclays-brooklyn
https://www.wastedive.com/news/stadium-recycling-reuse-plastic-sustainability
https://www.bizbash.com/sports/article/22928982/tackling-trash-how-colleges-are-reducing-game-day-event-waste
https://www.wastedive.com/news/stadium-recycling-reuse-plastic-sustainability/638684/
https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1349&context=elj