News article
Sustainability round-up: June 01
This week’s sustainability round-up includes the Indy 500’s eco-tyres, Scottish Rugby’s plan of action, Euroleague Basketball’s pre-finals initiatives and the International Centre for Sport Security’s dedication to sustainability.
The Pro Trail Runners Association (PTRA) has released a document outlining a set of boundaries it feels is needed for events to respect the ethics and values of the sport, as well the environments in which athletes race. Recommendations from athletes include events having a publicly stated environmental policy; not building infrastructure that could cause permanent damage to ecosystems or will not be used after the event and paying special attention to fragile ecosystems. Further recommendations suggest that organisers should not use high-polluting vehicles outside of rescue needs and races should not supply single-use plastics and styrofoam food and beverage containers.
The recent Indianapolis 500 saw the Indy 500-specific race tyre incorporate a synthetic rubber created with ISCC+ certified recycled butadiene. This is a monomer produced with recycled post-consumer plastic waste, such as plastic shopping bags, film, stretch wrap and other flexible polymer packaging. The tyre was developed as the result of a partnership between Firestone and Shell, which also innovated the 100% Renewable Race Fuel that is used in this year’s championship.
Scottish Rugby is working on a sustainability plan as part of its commitment to the environment and sustainability. The plan is set to be presented to Scottish Rugby’s board later this summer. The organisation announced its support for the United Nations Sport for Climate Change Action Framework last year, which aligns with World Rugby’s own Environment Sustainability Plan (ESP), with the aim of halving emissions by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2040.
Euroleague Basketball revealed two initiatives ahead of the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Kaunas, Lithuania earlier this month, to promote sustainability, mobility, education and emission impact awareness. The first programme was a reforestation campaign which saw 15,000 trees planted in Kaunas. The second was the Final Four Walking Challenge, allowing locals and visitors to support the reforestation campaign. Real Madrid Baloncesto was crowned the winner of the competition.
International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) Chief Executive Massimiliano Montanari has said the ICSS is committed to sustainable development and its Save the Dream initiative, a non-profit movement promoting the core values of sport. Montanari said: “Sustainability means for us promoting long-term programmatic approaches rather than one-off projects while supporting initiatives which can continue over time through solid partnerships and the creation of self-sustainable eco-systems able to ensure proper resource mobilisation.”
Image: Alessio Soggetti on Unsplash