It’s tradition to tuck into a half-time pie when attending a match day. But have you ever wondered what happens to the wrappers, bottles and other waste generated at a game? We submitted an FOI request to the UK government to find out… 6k5x4r
(Total Wastage After The Premier League)
The Premier League is home to some of the largest sports stadiums in the world, so it’s no surprise that across 490 of its games in the 2019/20 season it generated a combined total of 2,117 tonnes of waste.
Manchester United are the biggest offenders with 8 tonnes per match and 197 tonnes over the season.
So what’s the cost of cleaning up the waste? Premier League clubs spend a combined £24,167 on cleaning up per game. This means £599,518 was spent over the course of 490 games played last season.
(the amount of wastage across all stadiums after the entire season)
(weighing approx 200 tonnes)
(weighing approx 0.0006875 tonnes)
(weighing approx 0.00045 tons and 0.0005 tons)
(weighing approx 1.4 tons)
So now you know that the PL’s stadiums created 2,117 tonnes of waste over 490 games last season. But what does that look like? To put it into perspective, this weight equates to 1,000 blue whales, 3 million basketballs or 1,510 cars. Yep, we’re shocked as well.
We spoke to zoologist, sustainability activist & content creator, Margarita - we asked how sporting events could reduce their waste impact on the environment, Margarita suggested that venues “refuse single use plastics and stop offering them. Eliminate single use straws…sell reusable bottles…and don’t give bags to take away food or souvenirs.” Margarita also stated the scary fact; “ Less than 10% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled. “
Scientists estimate that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans.Margarita Samsonova – Zoologist, Sustainability Activist & Content Creator.
The team at OnlineGambling.ca endeavored to find out how much waste there is after a premier league game, to do so – they produced and FOI request to the UK Government which they received the following information: the average quantity of waste generated per large scale Emirates event which is collected/disposed is approx. 5-6 tonnes and the cost to clean up is approx. £1,700 per game.
Based off this Government information, the team were able to calculate the estimate of waste & cost for each PL stadium.
