News article
Sustainability round-up: World Netball, Olympic Refuge Foundation…
Also in the news: Liverpool Football Club, University of Montana, World Rugby and more…
Premier League club Liverpool has recycled more than one million plastic bottles through matchday collections and events at Anfield during the past three seasons. Some 99% of fans now actively participate in The Red Way recycling programme at Anfield, a significant improvement on the 25% involved during the 2021-22 season.
Sport England Chairman Chris Boardman has called for a ‘mindset shift’ on climate change during a speech at the recent Sport Positive summit. In particular, he highlighted efforts in football, but challenged top-level clubs in England to improve their efforts with a focus on reducing air miles. “In terms of Premier League clubs, we are seeing wildly inconsistent action,” Boardman said. “This year, half of them flew to the United States – for friendlies. I’m a pragmatist, not a moral absolutist. I don’t believe in outright bans on flying, but we all need to strike a much better balance.”
World Netball has highlighted its efforts around supporting mental health across its headquarters. The governing body has a suite of policies including a Code of Ethics, Code of Conduct, Equality and Diversity, and Safeguarding policies. Additionally, staff have access to a mental wellbeing app, ‘Wisdom’, which offers an interactive mood tracker and content to support users.
Washington Grizzly Stadium, home of the University of Montana Athletics, has welcomed zero waste stations (compost, recycling and rubbish) for the first time. Recycling and rubbish bins were also set up at the gates and tailgate areas, with the help of a team of student Zero Waste Ambassadors. This has so far resulted in 1,300 lbs of recycling, 1,700 lbs of compost and 3,000 lbs of waste diverted from landfill per game.
World Rugby U20 Championship host South Africa Rugby introduced future rugby stars to its initiative which helps tackle the vast amount of plastic generated on matchdays, while also helping to build homes for the most vulnerable. The ‘Bag that Builds’ is an initiative that sees discarded plastic transformed into bricks that are used to build houses. It was originally piloted in July 2022 at Cape Town Stadium for the Test between South Africa and Wales.
Sticking with the sport of rugby union, Host Broadcast Services (HBS) has renewed its partnership with World Rugby, and will embed sustainability principles into its operations as part of the planning phase to reduce avoidable carbon emissions. HBS will utilise innovative technologies that will help support the international rugby federation’s climate targets.
The Welsh Sports Association has published its annual report for the year 2023-24. This year saw the WSA team up with the Federation of Irish Sport to host the first Sustainability in Sport Conference, which aims to enhance the organisation’s environmental stewardship and foster a culture of responsibility across its membership.
An evaluation of the Olympic Refuge Foundation’s Game Connect programme in Uganda has found significant improvement in the psychological wellbeing and mental health of young people that participated in the sport for mental health initiative. Game Connect works across five locations in Uganda – capital Kampala, as well as the refugee settlements of Pagirinya, Kyangwali, Palabek and Rwamwanja.